Legs Inn Celebrates 100 Years: Cross Village, Emmet County
I have been by this place many times over the years and finally decided to find out something about it.
It’s Legs Inn, located at 6425 Lakeshore Drive in Cross Village.
Polish immigrant Stanley Smolak arrived in Northern Michigan during the 1920s and attempted to find somewhere that was reminiscent of his hometown in Poland. It also needed to be a place where he could practice his talent of making wood sculptures.
Stanley loved living in this area among the Native Americans and nearby a stove manufacturing company. He also was fascinated with the large rocks along (and in) Lake Michigan. It was his love of wood and rocks that brought about the construction of Legs Inn. The structure became a combination of his Polish heritage and his love of Northen Michigan.
Why was his place called “Legs” Inn?
It was the hundreds of cast iron stove legs that he placed along the roof line that made a parapet, therefore becoming known as ‘Legs’ Inn.
Construction began in the 1920s with consistent upgrading through the 1940s. It became a combination of museum and Polish restaurant with living quarters, gift shop, and saloon.
After his wife passed in 1968, Stanley died six months afterward. Legs Inn remains in the family and achieved historic status in 1989.