Traverse City is named after the Grand Traverse Bay, which the city heads. The bay earned its name from 18th century French voyagers who made la grande traverse or "the long crossing" across the mouth of the bay Grand Traverse Bay

In 1847, Captain Boardman of Naperville, Illinois, purchased the land at the mouth of the Boardman River at the head of the west arm of the bay. During that year the captain, his son, and their employees built a dwelling and sawmill near the mouth of the river. In 1851 the Boardmans sold the sawmill to Hannah, Lay & Co, who improved the mill greatly. The increased investment in the mill attracted additional settlers to the new community.

As of 1853, the only operating post office in the Grand Traverse Bay region was the one located at Old Mission, which was then known as "Grand Traverse." While in Washington, D.C. in 1852, Mr. Lay had succeeded in getting the U.S. Post Office to authorize a new post office at his newer settlement. As the newer settlement had become known as "Grand Traverse City," Lay proposed this name for its post office, but the USPS clerk suggested dropping the "Grand," in the name, as to limit confusion between this new office and the one at nearby Old Mission. Mr. Lay agreed to the name "Traverse City" for the post office, and the village took on this name.

Climate

Traverse City has the typical northern Michigan climate: Cold winters and warm summers. Traverse City can have snowfall as late as May or as early as September. Traverse City's record high temperature is 105 °F (41 °C), and its record low temperature is −37 °F (−38 °C), on February 17, 1979. Traverse City also gets a lot of lake-effect snow.


Geography

Boardman River between downtown Traverse City and Grand Traverse BayThe city sits at the head of Grand Traverse Bay, a long protected water of Lake Michigan. The city sits at the base of the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas. The Boardman River forms Boardman Lake in the city before draining into the Bay.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.7 square miles (22.5 km²), of which, 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²) of it (3.45%) is water.

It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan.