Welcome to the Slabtown Neighborhood Association Website
Slabtown is both an original & historic area and a modern, dynamic neighborhood in Traverse City. Our association meets regularly with community events planned throughout the year.
We invite you to look through current and past activities using our calendar and the tabs above.
If you are a resident, we urge you to sign up with your latest contact information!
Next meeting will be winter TBA.
Thank you for everyone who came out to our Fall 2024 meeting a special thank you to the speakers. Please consider applying to be on a board throughout the City. Here is a link to the list of boards: Appointed Boards | Government | City of Traverse City (traversecitymi.gov)
Meeting minutes Link: SNA Google Drive
Slabtown Neighborhood History
In the latter half of the 19th century, Traverse City’s West Bay waterfront was a loud, smoky collection of sawmills, docks, stables and warehouses.
Wood harvested from throughout northern Michigan was hauled to saw mills here to produce slab-boards and lumber and Christmas trees shipped to ports around the Great Lakes.
Workers were only allowed to physically drag what leftover slabs they could to construct a basic home near the mills. Thus the neighborhood known today as Slabtown was created – because early structures housed the people who labored nearby on the Bay (many of them Bohemians from what was Czechoslovakia - until 1993).
Today, Slabtown with frontage to the Bay, is a sought-after neighborhood with 3 parks - Ashton, Darrow and Veteran's Park – all offering terrific spaces to relax and play. Also, notable are the Hickory Hills Ski and natural preserve areas.
SlabtownNA_DRAFT_V2.pdf