Local History

In 1848, Connecticut-born Abram S. Wadsworth built his cabin here, the first white man's home in the county.  He platted the village in 1852 and named it Stevens.  In 1858, he renamed it from his having found a pair of elk horns in the sand at the mouth of the river.  Renamed Elk Rapids on August 30, 1858.  A station on the Chicago & Western Michigan (now Pere Marquette) Railroad.  Incorporated as a village in 1900.

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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