 A post office operated in summers from August 1917 until September 1921.The area was probably visited by Henri de Tonty in 1679 and other early explorers of the eastern coast of Lake Michigan.The first known non-Native Americans to live for any length of time near Portage Point was the crew of the schooner "Prince Eugene" that wrecked on 15 November 1835 three or four miles (6 km) south of the present-day channel between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan.