Modern development has all but eliminated traces of many of the original Grand Traverse communities, but Port Oneida remains as a piece of living history. A walk among the fields and buildings of this farming community, established in the mid-1800s, can still convey a sense of what the life and landscape was like for the families that called these farms home.

Now part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, this area is in the process of being preserved for future generations. 

The whole Port Oneida area has the fascinating and nostalgic aura of a historic ghost town, which started me exploring and photographing fields, houses, barns, chicken coops, and even outhouses. Gradually I came to focus on close-up details—picturesque old windows, doors with antique hardware, stonework contrasting with weathered wood, beautifully rusted tinwork, old license plates nailed on a weathered shed, an antique plow hanging on a rusted hook. This excited my artistic senses, and gave me an emotional feeling about times past, a part of our heritage that will never come again. And so it is with such feelings that I took these photographs, and present them to you here for your pleasure and enjoyment.

Weathered Barn	Barn Window
Charles Olsen Home (Restored)	Barn Wall Abstract

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Copyright 2007 William Wilson, Photogrrapher