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The Wellston Inn goes back to the 1940's and was a favorite spot for fisherman and skiers alike. It has had quite a few owners over the years. One of them started an essay contest in 2000 with an entry fee of $100 with the winner getting the motel. The idea was to raise enough money to not only pay off the mortgage, but donate some of the proceeds to charity also. Many people sent in their money and essays but nobody won the contest. Nobody is quite sure of what became of the money either. There are several articles on this in the newspaper archives. The motel closed sometime later, around 2002 I believe.
In 2012, a new owner took over and re-opened the place. It operated for a few years but I see the Facebook Page updates ended in 2018 and the website listed on there is also gone. It is listed as being open on Google Maps so I will assume it is open as of 2023. The latest review on Google was from about a year ago so it is probably open.
Here is a description from a real estate listing from a few years back: "The Historical Wellston Inn is on the market! This landmark in the Village of Wellston has a full service restaurant including all of the equipment and table and chairs necessary to get it up and running, a lounge area with fireplace, rooms above the restaurant, 3 cabins, and a separate boarding house, and several outside storage buildings including a fish cleaning station to cater to the local fishermen who frequent the area fishing the Big Manistee River at Tippy Dam."