In 1854, Harry Chittenden Sutton and his crew established a wooding station to provide fuel to wood-burning steamboats.

Pleasant City was another name, but Suttons Bay was later adopted for this growing community.

[6] The township also includes the small Ojibwe community of Peshawbestown, also known as Eagletown.

[7] Once a Franciscan mission named after Chief Peshaba, who ruled in the 1880s, this community has grown to include a casino and resort.

[9][10] The township contains Fountain Point, which was built in 1889 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The township is bordered on the east by the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay and partially by Lake Leelanau on the southwest.