Sunset over Lake Michigan, photo by briethe.
There’s not much doubt that as we head up Michigan’s west coast in our shoreline tour, we’ll see a lot of breakwalls and sunsets.
The New Buffalo Township’s excellent history tells us (among other things):
The city of New Buffalo came into being because of a violent October storm in 1834, when Captain Wessel D. Whittaker grounded his schooner Post Boy in the mouth of a small stream called State Creek near the present village of Grand Beach. The ship was destroyed, but Captain and crew survived the disaster and walked to Michigan City, where there were taverns that could provide food and shelter. There Whittaker hired a rig and headed north for St. Joseph to report the ship’s loss to its underwriters. On his way up the coast, he was struck by advantages and beauty of the spot where the Galien River passed through Lake Potawatomi into Lake Michigan. Lake Potowatomi, since drained by the sawmills, was, by varying accounts, two miles long, a half mile wide and up to ninety feet deep or four miles long by a mile wide and fourteen feet deep. It is now just “a lazy bend in the river.”
In addition to all kinds of visitor and business information, The New Buffalo Business Administration has a nice timeline of the history of New Buffalo and a cool old photos of the C&O Railroad Roundhouse that I would very much like to see larger. Maybe it can be found at the New Buffalo Railroad Museum. I also learned at NewBuffalo.com that the nation’s first Highway Travel Information center opened on May 4, 1935, on US-12 at New Buffalo. New Buffalo’s Wikipedia entry is on the lame side, and I would encourage any enterprising New Buffaloeans to spruce it up a little.
You can View a map of photos from New Buffalo and nearby, and explore more of our Michigan Shoreline tour pictures.
Michigan in Pictures 
A very cool sunset.
We don’t have too much red in our sunsets here in Colorado, just lots of purple, blue, pinks, and oranges.
LikeLike
yeah well if the photographer turned around and took a photograph all that photograph would show would be row after row after row of condominiums and townhouses built by developers who have just raped new buffalo.
you will see the same in almost every single west coast michigan town.
LikeLike
Aw, but we love our Lake Michigan Towns — New Buff, Stevensville, South Haven, Grand Haven et al — and their beautiful West-facing beaches and gorgeous sunsets like this one. Nice job by the photographer to get the sun in the center of the harbor pier arms. Gets my vote!
LikeLike
The 1.5 million dollar condos that those ugly babyface billboards are selling. Such a shame. And The Harbor Grand has once again raised its prices and changed its menu to be fancy and expensive. Not the New Buffalo that I remember.
LikeLike
Ive lived in New buffalo almost my whole life and im only 15 and so much has changed since ive been here.I cant imagine what people who have been here for 30 years are thinking.Phips are ruining new buffalo with their damn condos.we need to focus more on our beaches and things that make new buffalo NEW BUFFALO…
LikeLike
new buffalo is fine…Dallas the condos bring in money to the economy. Jeez the beaches are still there jou should be happy to live in New buffalo… I do, and I love it here. You just look on the bright side it gave people jobs to build those condos
LikeLike
the condos are def not bringing in money to the town. maybe thats why gierzyk had to sell everything, because the things that he established couldnt even sell themselves.
the town has turned into a joke for the people who have been there for most of their lives.its sickening the things that have been put in place of what used to be, because they arnt even doing anything for the community. they are only worried about catering to the out of towners (FIPS) that can afford to have a second home. you dont see the town building housing for the middle class. its all about if you have money to spend.and it sure didnt give jobs to people who live in new buffalo to build the town houses and condos.
its funny because you can tell who has a vacation house in new buffalo and who has lived there their whole life.
LikeLike
I Agree with a few of the postings here. I grew up in New Buffalo in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s. Developers have turned a graceful community into a perverted landscape.
Please contact me if you have old pics of New Buffalo that I can post on my blog.
Steve
smgcomm@hotmail.com Blog:http://theantediluvian.blogspot.com/
LikeLike
Truly was a unique town in my childhood 50’s and teenage 60’s. Sad now coming back to visit and to see everything lost that made it a community.
Remember Guhl’s boat docks, the RIO on the Lake, Roller-rink, wooded ravines where kids explored and played now all filled in. We knew the people in town they all knew us.
What a current blight on what once was a beautiful place to live. It is not a town anymore just a hangout for the wealthy.
LikeLike