History

Inland House sits on the northwestern edge of Crooked Lake. According to Eric Hemenway, Director for the Department of Repatriation, Archives and Records of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB), “the Waganakising Odawa have been here for thousands of years.” Waganakising is the Anishinaabe* word for “land of the Crooked Tree”, what the early French fur traders called L’Arbre Croche. Crooked Lake is known by the Odawa people as Wewaagizigamaag Zaaigigan, which means literally “Crooked Lake”. The lake was most likely called “Crooked” not because of its shape, but because it was a primary fishing and navigational lake on the Inland Waterway important to the Odawa Native American band who identified as the People of the Crooked Trees.  

 

The community of Conway was named Crooked Lake in 1878. The oldest cottage in Conway was built between 1850 and 1860.  In 1881, the name was changed to Dodge's Landing after the Dodge family gave a church and a school to the community. Conway got its new name when it gained a post office on May 18, 1882, and was named after a son of the Dodges who died at 11 years old in 1882. The first post office was located in the inn which eventually became The Inland House. Conway also had a rail station of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad at this time.

 

The original Inland House ("The Inn") was built in 1879 by Merritt Blackmer (1821-1896). In 1879, Blackmer also drilled the first artesian well in the village. The Inn originally consisted of five guest rooms but very soon after he built The Inn, Blackmer purchased the house next door and combined the two properties into a sizeable inn.

 

The Inn was purchased by David Hastings of Conway in 1908, who significantly rebuilt it and renamed it the Conway Inn. He enlarged it to 3 stories and added an eight stall boathouse. Artesian wells flowed so strong that even the third story had running water in each room! 

 

In 1914, David sold The Inn for $1.00 to his sister Jean Hastings Trask and her husband Homer. In 1962, Georgiana Trask Sturm and Pauline Trask Montgomery gave 231.5 feet of shoreline north of the inn to be used for a public township park in keeping with with wishes of its original owner Merritt Blackmer. Homer and Jean Trask and their descendants had always allowed public use of the land for park space.

 

In the 1960s ownership was transferred to a corporation owned by John and Betsy Johnson who changed the name of the hotel to “This Ole House Motor Inn”. 

 

The name remained This Ole House when Bob Rupp, his son Dan, his brother Bill, and his nephew Nate bought the property in 1977 but was later changed to The Inland House. 

 

A fire destroyed the original hotel in March, 1989, but the newer condominium section that had been added in 1964 by John and Betsy Johnson was not harmed. Alanson photographer Doug Houseworth happened upon the fire and captured some stunning images of the event and its aftermath. 

 

 

See more historical photos of the Inland House in the Gallery, in the Historic Photos Album.

 

An old guest register shows that Grover Cleveland once stayed at the hotel. The Inland House brought in big name entertainers and big bands, including Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton and Clyde McCoy. Frank Sinatra Jr. performed there. 

 

In 2003 an addition of 16 condominiums in a three story structure was added. Today owners and guests of the Inland House Condominium Association enjoy the same beautiful setting on Crooked Lake.

 

Across the street, the Hiawatha Hotel (later called Hiawatha House) was built in 1900. The hotel was created exclusively for summer guests. The Hiawatha Hotel was originally the Hiawatha Tavern but the name had to be changed during Prohibition as the word Tavern was not allowed.

 

The source information below has more pictures, newspaper articles, and town history to explore.

 

 

Conway is an unincorporated community and a Census Designated Place (CDP) with a population of 338 in 2020. The CDP has 220 housing units with 61 households. The Conway CDP has a total area of 0.42 square miles.

 

*Anishinaabe is the primary language and cultural group known as Niswi-mishkodewinan, or Three Fires Confederacy. This confederacy is composed of the Odawa, Ojibwe (Chippewa), and Potawatomi Tribes.