Traverse City's First Social Club

Sure, you've heard of the Traverse City Golf & Country Club, but what about the first social club to serve the lumber barons and leaders of the day?

The late 1800s was a time of rapid development, perhaps more than any other in Traverse City’s history. The Perry Hannah House (today’s Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home), Whiting Hotel (still operating), and Beadle Building (home of Mackinaw Brewing Company) appeared downtown.

Soon locals saw a need for a community gathering place and, in 1894, the Wequetong Club popped up on the point of land between the Boardman River and the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay (near where the West Bay Beach, A Holiday Inn Resort is now located).

According to the History Center of Traverse City, the waterfront property for the Wequetong Club house was leased from the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. Traverse Citians built a three-story Victorian-style building that was 56 by 82 feet long and had a dock that jutted out into the Bay. The back extended to the river for boat docking.

The lower level boasted a bowling alley, lounge, and bathhouse. The second level housed the dance floor, and a porch surrounded it for viewing of the bay. The top floor contained the kitchen, parlors, dining room, committee rooms, and reading room. One of the first events hosted at the Wequetong Club was the Old Mission Canoe Club’s “First Annual Regatta” on August 20, 1894.

The city’s most prominent families -- from the Millikens to the Greilicks -- spent summers and evenings at the club. An article from the Wequetong era mentions a “chafing dish supper … prepared in an appetizing manner.”

While the Wequetong Club itself has been essentially forgotten, Native Americans are responsible for its namesake. During the 19th century, the Anishinaabek people would stage canoes and set up camp in the area that is now Grandview Parkway and Clinch Park. When the Wequetong Club was built, this strip of land was still known as “Indian Point.” Wequetong Club founders chose a misspelled Anishinaabemowin word, “Wiikwedoong,” for their clubhouse. Wiikwedoong translates to “bay,” but it was often mistaken to mean “head of the bay.”

Even after World War I and into Prohibition, the Wequetong Club maintained a long waiting list for membership. But by the Great Depression, it was becoming less of a hot spot. This probably had less to do with the stock market crash and more to do with the invention of the automobile, which gave people more options for recreation.

In 1927, the beachfront was closed by the Grand Traverse Health Department due to Boardman River pollution (the Boardman Lake sewage plant wasn’t built until 1933). By 1935 the Wequetong was $1,800 in debt, so the City of Traverse City purchased the club in exchange for paying off the debts. The city allowed the building to be used for community gatherings until its tear-down in 1945. It was demolished “to make way for highway improvement and the Murchie bridge, which carries Grandview Parkway across the Boardman,” according to a 1965 Traverse City State Bank advertisement commemorating the Wequetong Club.