In 1906, Martin and Leone Telgard walked across the ice from North Manitou Island to the mainland. Their grandson, Skip Telgard, told the Glen Arbor Sun that story this summer. Martin was a boat builder. In 1927 he and Leone opened a small sandwich and soda shop in Leland that became the Bluebird. For most of the century since, Leland and the Manitous were tied together by a boat leaving from Fishtown.
In 2026 the boat stayed put. Meanwhile the Telgards' rebuilt restaurant, a new tasting room and a third-generation shop handoff all happened along the same short stretch of water. Every one of those changes faces the river.
A Summer With No Boat to the Islands
Manitou Island Transit says plainly that it ran no trips in the 2026 season. The National Park Service closed the docks on both North and South Manitou for the full season. MLive reported in September that the company traces its origins to a federal mail contract awarded in 1917. It canceled all regular trips this year because neither island has a usable public dock.
The islands have usually drawn 10,000 to 11,000 visitors each summer. In May, Leelanau News reported a forecast that the 2026 count could fall to the hundreds. Nels Carlson, co-owner of Carlson's Fishery, said he was concerned about the shops that rely on Fishtown foot traffic. Ferry passengers also tend to buy T-shirts and ice cream. Nobody has published a count of how the summer actually went for Fishtown merchants. What's on record is the worry from the spring.
The closure comes from a $52.7 million Park Service project. It moves the docks on both islands to spots better protected from storms, high water and shifting sand. The new docks are pile-supported "flow-through" designs, built so sand can't pile up underneath. The work also covers historic buildings and new drinking water, wastewater and electrical systems. According to MLive, the first construction estimate was $31.86 million. Superintendent Scott Tucker said the project's scope did not change.
There was also a lawsuit. Manitou Island Transit sued the Park Service in February 2025 over dock access. The federal government agreed to pay the company $101,417 without admitting liability, and both sides dismissed the case on July 9.
What Has to Happen Before the Ferry Runs Again
As of MLive's September 10 report, the timeline looks like this:
- North Manitou work: about 90 percent complete.
- South Manitou work: about 40 percent complete.
- The docks themselves: expected to be finished by the end of 2026.
- Overall construction contract: extended to July 15, 2027. Federal contracting records had earlier listed December 31, 2026.
- Island villages: expected to reopen sometime in 2027.
- Regular ferry service: no restart date announced.
You can still reach the islands, just not easily. The Park Service lists Manitou Passage LLC as the only commercial charter currently allowed to carry passengers to designated beach-landing areas. Jimmy Munoz and longtime ferry captain Geoff Niessink co-own it, and it runs smaller landing craft that don't need the public docks. Its current authorization expires December 31. The islands have no drinking water and most visitor facilities are closed.
So for at least part of next season, Fishtown's island traffic depends on a contract date and a reopening date nobody has set yet. The places that changed this year don't depend on either.
The Bluebird Rebuilt Itself Facing the Water
The Bluebird reopened quietly in fall 2025 after two years of reconstruction. The new building sits a stone's throw from the original. It was designed to bring diners closer to the Leland River, with wide new windows, a deck for up to 100 guests and a pass-through window at the bar for deck service.
"The river is a significant part of our heritage," Skip Telgard told the Glen Arbor Sun.
It's still a family operation. Michael Leaveck, Skip's son-in-law and an architect, designed the building. He and his wife Caroline, the Telgards' daughter, help run it. Their son Derek came back from running a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, to cook. The family closed the restaurant from February through April 2026 to fine-tune the new operation and reopened in early May. The Bluebird's website says hours are irregular because of staffing shortages, so call ahead before you go this fall.
A New Tasting Room Took the River's Old Name
Early settlers called the Leland River the Carp River. Generations of fishermen called it "fish creek." This spring the old name came back. Carp River Bottle & Tap moved into 110 W. River St., Suite A, the former Mammoth & Co. Distilling space. Co-owner Jake Alsip described it to the Leelanau Ticker as a harbor-side wine and cider tasting room that also sells northern Michigan goods. The Ticker's Memorial Day weekend report said it opened May 21.
Alsip is also the new owner of The Fish Hook. The Ticker describes the handoff as the shop's third generation of family ownership. The Bottle & Tap planned to open seven days a week in peak summer. Its website doesn't post hours yet, so fall hours are best confirmed directly.
None of these openings were tied to the ferry shutdown. The pattern still holds. In a year when the island traffic disappeared, the new owners and the rebuilt dining room both chose the riverbank.
Fishtown Kept Investing in Itself
The Fishtown Preservation Society kept working through the closure too. Its Campaign for Fishtown wrapped up rehabilitation of the Ice House in 2025, following earlier repairs to shanties, utilities, access and riverfront infrastructure. The Society also bought the Van Raalte House at 101 S. Lake Street for its future headquarters. Its own page lists a $2.2 million purchase price and a $1.067 million estimate for renovation and site work. The Glen Arbor Sun reported in October 2025 that the Society aimed to move in by late 2026. That was a target, and there hasn't been a public update confirming the schedule.
October Belongs to the River
The Leland River is barely 4,000 feet long and runs between Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan. In autumn, salmon try to leap the waterfall at the historic dam, and the dam stops them from swimming farther upstream to spawn. The Fishtown Preservation Society describes people fishing from the Fishtown docks and the Falling Waters Lodge decks, with a bridge crossing near the dam. The Michigan DNR says Chinook start moving upstream in late summer and are usually around in catchable numbers by mid-August, so the run is already underway.
The rest of the month is busy on land:
| Date | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 29 – Oct. 5 | Montague Tileworks in the Art Shanty | Fishtown |
| Oct. 6 – 12 | Debra Howard in the Art Shanty | Fishtown |
| Oct. 7 | Late Night Leland | Downtown Leland |
| Oct. 8 | Growing Up Leelanau exhibit | Old Art Building |
| Oct. 12 | Indigenous Peoples' Day activities | Leland |
| Oct. 13 – 19 | Larissa McGinnity & Mark Engelsman / St. James Pottery in the Art Shanty | Fishtown |
| Oct. 23 | Broomsticks and Bubbles | Leland |
| Oct. 24 | Leland Fall Frenzy | Leland |
The Village Cheese Shanty's website lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last sandwich day October 23, an end-of-year sale October 24 and closing for the season October 25. The page doesn't show a year, so check before planning around those dates. The Cove asks you to call for fall hours. Carlson's Fishery's site also says to call for current hours.
After Fishtown closes up, the Leland Chamber's calendar moves into the holidays. Light Up Leland is November 25, Black Friday in Leland is November 27, Small Business Saturday is November 28, the Cocoa Crawl is December 5 and Leland Sip and Shop is December 17.
The Ferry Comes Back to a Different Fishtown
No date has been set for regular service to restart. Whenever it does, the boat will return to a waterfront with the Bluebird's new deck, a tasting room named for the river's first name, a Fish Hook under new family ownership and a rehabilitated Ice House. Long before Leland became a Harbor of Refuge, the river sheltered fishing boats, pleasure craft and the Manitou mail boat and ferry. In 2026, the Bluebird's tables faced that same water.
If you own near the Leland River and want to understand how a waterfront that changed this year affects your property's story, Team Shimek knows this stretch of Fishtown and River Street well. Schedule a free consultation and we'll go through it with you.
