Local author and historian Sonny Longtine shows off his latest publication, “Marquette: A Waterfront Renaissance.” The book showcases the city’s pristine shoreline and what it looked like formerly compared to now. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

MARQUETTE — While most people spent last year isolating themselves from the COVID-19-plagued world, one local author and historian spent his quarantine period connecting himself with Marquette’s pristine waterfront.

Sonny Longtine recently released his latest publication titled “Marquette: A Waterfront Renaissance,” which showcases the city’s 10 miles of shoreline through historical facts, stunning photography and more.

Longtine has released titles such as “U.P. People: Incredible Stories about Incredible People,” “Marquette: Then and Now” and perhaps his most popular: “Murder in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

These books, along with the five others he’s previously written, are all long-form titles that share in-depth tales of U.P. lifestyle, lore and mysteries. With his latest project, Longtine, 81, was looking to do something short-form during the pandemic and decided upon highlighting Marquette’s waterfront.

“I’m now 81 years old, and I’m thinking I don’t know if I can pursue writing another book at 81,” he said. “It takes me two to three years, and looking at that I’m thinking, I want to finish the book. So I looked for a short-term project that I could do that could be interesting. I love history and my books are all about Upper Peninsula history.

“With that in mind, I looked around the (Marquette) community and thought well, this harbor deserves some attention from what it was to what it is now.”

Longtine said he spent hours perusing the lakeshore to get photography for the book. Along with the photos Longtine took, the book also features photography from Jack Deo of Superior View Studio, along with historical photography provided by the Marquette Regional History Center.

“I spent a lot of time just going down there and taking photography,” Longtine said. “Looking for the right settings, the right sun, the right lights, etc. For years, I’ve been taking photographs of Marquette. I’ve got thousands of them. So I went through my archives and I actually had some historical photos myself.”

The book talks about many facets of the waterfront’s history including the lower harbor ore dock, the historic Upfront & Company building, McCarty’s Cove and the U.S. Coast Guard station, among other examples.

Asked what he hopes to achieve with the publication, Longtine said he’s hoping it can be used to help promote the city he’s lived in his entire life.

“It’s kind of like a ‘then and now’ of the Marquette harbor,” he said. “I wasn’t quite sure in terms of what purpose it would have or where it would go. It doesn’t have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) like all of my other books do. But I thought perhaps the city might be able to use it as a tool or a mechanism for promoting the city. With that in mind, I wrote it and I did submit it to city officials and the (Marquette) Downtown Development Authority and the Lake Superior Community Partnership. (Marquette City Manager) Mike Angeli contacted me and he wanted 50 of them, so I gave him 50, which he is going to distribute to the city commission and other possible places.

“I thought it would be something that might be useful in terms of developers coming here to Marquette and seeing what it’s like now. Interestingly enough, something that a lot of people don’t know is what that lakeshore was like before. What it looked like in the ’40s and ’50s. I grew up in south Marquette, so I knew what it looked like. It’s surprising that people now have no idea. They always think that the lakefront is like it is right now.”

Angeli, who is set to retire on June 1 after 45 years of service with the city, praised Longtine’s efforts and said he does a good job of telling the tale of Marquette’s waterfront history.

“I see it as a very good resource for the history of the lakeshore, and the Founders Landing area specifically,” he said. “One of the issues that we often deal with in the administration is familiarizing people with that history. Often they don’t understand, are new here or are not aware of it. Sonny has put it together very nicely where it can show the improvements, benefits and great transiiton that has occurred there (at Founders Landing).”

Angeli said feedback from city officials has been positive so far, and they hope to make the book available to the public sooner rather than later.

“Each commissioner has a booklet,” he said. “We purchased 50 to have on hand for the commission and the general public as needed. They’re currently available in my office, which of course isn’t open to the public just yet. I guess we’re not really able to make them available quite yet.

“The feedback has been all good. It’s only been recently that I distributed them. Definitely the two or three (commissioners) I’ve talked to, they’ve all thought it was very well done and beneficial. It’s one of those areas we’re proud of.”

Development along the waterfront has been a hot topic in the city over the years. While the debate of constructing condos, hotels and high-rises rages on and likely always will, the fact remains that the city has kept the lakeshore accessible to the public.

“Probably one of the big issues that I’ve talked about with some of the city officials is that a lot of people wanted a total green space,” Longtine said. “Founders Landing in particular. How can you develop housing and hotels and so on? I like what the city did, Mike Angeli and (commissioner) Fred Stonehouse said ‘We have to have a tax base, we can serve the waterfront and keep that, but let’s also have some sort of tax base.’ If you think about all of those buildings down there, they’re now paying revenue that are supporting other city projects and keeping the city beautiful.

“With that, they kept the shoreline all the time. The city now owns 95 percent of the shoreline from the south power plant out to the island (Presque Isle Park). Whenever land became available, the city bought it. Start with Mattson Park, that was a coal dock before. McCarty’s Cove, when that became available, they bought that. When Founders Landing became available, they bought that. Investment into Founders Landing was $11 million, and you have to generate some revenue based on that.

“In summary, I think what the city did was nice. They had to accommodate the economic base, but yet they preserved the shoreline for the people. I think it was a nice, compatible arrangement between the two.”

Longtine attended Northern Michigan University to study in history and social work. He later attended Michigan State University where he majored in education and went on to receive his teaching certificate.

Longtine said he began the project in August, and it took roughly six months to complete. He also credited his book designer Victoria Tourtillott for the layout and design work.

Longtine finished by saying it warms his heart to share the history of the city he grew up in.

“What’s good about this is that I love it when it promotes Marquette,” he said. “This is my hometown. It makes us look significantly good that we’re doing things and we’re doing them right. That to me is the most important thing.

“We’ve come so far. I grew up here in the 40s and 50s, and from what it was then to what it is now, it’s just unbelievably remarkable.”

If interested in reading “Marquette: A Waterfront Renaissance,” Longtine can be reached at mrsonny70@att.net. Many of his other books can also be found online or at Snowbound Books located at 118 N. Third St. in downtown Marquette.