In 1861, Thomas Kelderhouse arrived and made an agreement with Carsten Burfiend to construct a dock in exchange for the land to build it on.

Kelderhouse also constructed a sawmill, and in the next 25 years the settlement grew, adding a blacksmith shop, a boarding house/hotel, and a general store/post office.

Residents of the area continued farming until World War II; after this many shifted to non-farm jobs for income.

[2] Port Oneida Rural Historic District contains approximately 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) along Lake Michigan, within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Nearby are the Port Oneida cemetery and the former location of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Kelderhouse sawmill.