Funeral Homes near Onekama

Facts about the city

Onekama (/oʊˈnɛkəmə/ oh-NEK-ə-mə) is a village in Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 411 at the 2010 census. The village is located on the shores of Portage Lake and is surrounded by Onekama Township. The town's name is derived from \"Ona-ga-maa,\" an Anishinaabe word which means \"singing water.\" Some local business people have produced sweatshirts, T-shirts, and bumper stickers with the symbols \"1,\" (pronounced 'ONE comma'), a common mispronunciation.

Onekama Obituaries

It was reported on July 10th, 1909 that Paul A Parlaman perished in Onekama, Michigan.  Parlaman was 22 years old.  Send flowers to express your sorrow and honor Paul A's life.

History

The village is located within Onekama Township, Michigan Township on the shores of Portage Lake. The population was 647 at the United States Census, 2000 census. The town's name is derived from "oneka-ma-engh", a native phrase for "portage".

The predecessor of the village of Onekama was the settlement of Portage at Portage Point, first established in 1845, at the western end of Portage Lake (Michigan) at the outlet of Portage Creek. In 1871, when landowners around the land-locked lake became exasperated with the practices of the Portage Sawmill, they took the solution into their own hands and dug a channel through the narrow isthmus, opening a waterway that lowered the lake by 12 to 14 feet and brought it to the same lavel as Lake Michigan. In 1882, the first school was built next to the present-day Congregational Church.