In the mid 1800's,  my great-great grandfather Pete Stormer came from the Manitou islands, and established the new community of Empire.  Soon the village had a wooding station, store, church, school, and large steamers and schooners dropping off settlers at the dock. The side-wheeler steamer, Empire, went aground nearby in 1849, and when the schooner Empire was icebound offshore in the winter of 1865, the village name was firmly affixed.

When the lumber boom ended with the burning of the last mill in 1917, the farmlands gained prominence. Much of the Leelanau Peninsula was found to have good soil for growing fruit, especially apples, peaches and cherries. In 1899 there were nearly 4,000 cherry trees in the county, growing to 16,000 ten years later. This added much to the industry of Leelanau, along with tourists lured by beautiful lakeside villages such as Empire.

Today Empire is host to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center and sits in the 80,000-acre park and the Stormer family is back in the area:)