Located in southwestern Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula.

The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county.

[8][9] Other sources claim that it was an Ojibwe term meaning "spirit of the woods".

In 1832, a group of traders from Massachusetts built a log house up the Manistee River.

[12] The first permanent Euro-American settlement was made on April 16, 1841, when John Stronach and his son, Adam Stronach, arrived at the mouth of the Manistee River in a schooner loaded with fifteen men and equipment, and established a sawmill.

[14] Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell, Manistee's first lawyer, moved there in 1860 and remained there until his death.

Ramsdell owned the first hardware store in the city, and was responsible for the construction of a bridge across the Manistee River.

[17] In 2000, Manistee made national headlines after a local jury convicted a woman for expressing to her mother near a Hispanic family in a restaurant her wish that immigrants would learn English; the judge described it as "insulting conduct" consisting of "fighting words", an offense that was punishable under a local ordinance.

Two years later (November 1, 2002) and after the defendant spent four nights in jail, the conviction was overturned by the state Court of Appeals.

The Manistee River connects the two lakes, cutting through the middle of the city.

[1] Neighboring and nearby communities include Parkdale to the northeast, Eastlake to the east, and Filer City, Oak Hill, and Stronach to the southeast.

The Ludington Daily News, Manistee News Advocate and Traverse City Record-Eagle cover the Manistee area and distribute daily newspapers in the city.

Manistee is home to 10 West Studios[30] which produces full-length motion pictures.

Notable movies include: What If..., starring Kevin Sorbo and John Ratzenberger filmed in Manistee,[31] Jerusalem Countdown featuring Randy Travis, Stacy Keach and Lee Majors, Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy starring Christopher Lloyd and Ernie Hudson, and God Bless the Broken Road starring Jordin Sparks and Lindsay Pulsipher Manistee has museums, an opera house, and recurring events.

[33] These include: Manistee has a historic downtown with many original buildings from the Victorian era.

The entire Downtown District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There are a good variety of retail stores in Manistee, many of which are locally owned and operated.