The history of the Shrine dates back to 1946, at a time when there were only about 12 Catholic families in Indian River. There were, however, a large number of people who visited this beautiful area in the summer and of course many of them were Catholics. The Bishop at that time approached a local business man, J.J. Harrington, to help secure land for a parish to be built in this area. With his help they petitioned they petitioned the Michigan State Department of Conservation to sell them a plot of land in the area, but were denied.
