Onaway is the Sturgeon Capital of Michigan, and there is a lake sturgeon streamside rearing facility on the nearby Black River, where the fish migrate down to the Cheboygan River and then to Lake Huron.

[4] This farming community received a post office open on October 23, 1882 with civil engineer Thomas E. Shaw as postmaster.

Arriving in 1886, Merritt Chandler had platted the community under the name of Onaway.

On August 18, 1893, Shaw took back the postmaster position and changed the office's name to Adalaska.

[4] At the beginning of the twentieth century Onaway was home to one of the world's largest wooden automobile steering wheel manufacturers, producing approximately 65% of the world's wooden steering wheels.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.57 square miles (4.07 km2), all land.

[6] The boundary of Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties is just west of the city.

The racial makeup of the city was 96.37% White, 1.31% Native American, and 2.32% from two or more races.