city, seat (1869) of Charlevoix county, northwestern Michigan, U.S. It is located between Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan (Michigan, Lake), about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Mackinaw City and the Straits of Mackinac (Mackinac, Straits of). Settled by fishermen by 1852, it was built on the site of an Indian village and was known as Pine River until renamed for the French Jesuit missionary explorer Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix (Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier de).

Charlevoix is now a resort and pleasure-boat haven with air and ferryboat services to Beaver Island, about 35 miles (55 km) offshore in Lake Michigan. Its economy is supplemented by agriculture, lumber milling, and light manufacturing (electrical equipment, metal fixtures, and cement). A U.S. Coast Guard (United States Coast Guard) station and a fish hatchery are located there, and Fisherman's Island State Park stretches along the lakeshore to the southwest. Inc. village, 1879; city, 1905. Pop. (2000) 2,994; (2005 est.) 2,776.