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    "title": "Ottawa Beach Literature",
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    "ocrText": "Scanned from Box 1 of the Frederica Pantlind Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nOTTAWA BEACH 1899 - 1926\nThe year 1899 was very successful for the resorts. In August a train\nwith 1,000 passengers left Grand Rapids and it added many other passengers\non stops en route to Ottawa Beach. On another day the steamer, CITY OF MILWAU-\nKEE, came with 800 excursionists from St. Joseph and Benton Harbor.\nOne of the exciting events of the year occurred on the Fourth of July\nwhen an errant firecracker started a fire under the flooring of the Annex of\nthe hotel. Both the Life Saving crew and the Holland Fire Department helped\nto extinguish the flames which were extensive enough to cause guests to begin\nHolland Harbor Channels\nthrowing trunks and personal effects out of the windows.\nIn November, 1899, the Pere Marquette Railroad was formed and its Arti-\ncles of Association were filed. One of the objectives of this new company was\nto acquire the C. & W.M. Railway, which it did. C.M. Heald, formerly of the\nC. & W.M., became President of the Pere Marquette, and he immediately announced\nthat improvements and changes would be made at Ottawa Beach.\nMACATAWA\nThe permanent residents of the beach area frequently had to cross Black\nLake, summer or winter. One special reason would be to ride the new Interurban\nrail line which had service to Holland and Grand Rapids during the long fall\nOttawa\nand winter season. In February, 1900, several of the young people had a cool\nBeach\nadventure while crossing on the ice. The newspaper reported:\nMary, John and Henry Bakker met with a dangerous adventure last\nSunday night. They are the children of Mr. Bakker, the Ottawa Beach ice-\nman, and they were on their way home from a visit with friends living\non the south shore.\nE\nMacatawa\nAbout 10 o'clock at night they started to skate from the fruit\nPark\noriginal Outlet\ndock to Ottawa Beach. When about one third of the distance had been cov-\nered, John, a young man of 19 who was ahead, skated into an airhole.\nProposed Channel\nLuckily he struck a submerged cake of ice and the force of the fall threw\nChannel as constructed\nM. Cook\nhim to a large cake some distance away. He arose just in time to catch\nhis brother Harry, who plunged head first into the water. Harry was fol-\nlowed by Mary, a young lady of 21, who escaped by the merest accident.\nShe struck the water head first and when she came to the surface it was\nso dark that her brothers could not see her. Luckily she can swim, and\nshe kept afloat until John grasped her by the dress and pulled her to\nthe cake of ice. They stayed there until it floated towards the solid\nice when John made a jump and landed safely. Harry and Mary were not\nso fortunate, but as they struck the water John helped them out.\nDuring all this time of peril the young men and their sister were\ncoolheaded and maintained rare presence of mind, and to this they are\nindebted for their safety. After reaching the solid ice they had to walk\na distance of two miles to their home, and though they suffered greatly\nfrom the cold, they show no ill effects of their dangerous experience.\n92\n93\nTHE\nThe 1900 resort season began, as usual, with a pre-season April train\nstreet car to Macatawa Park or go to Ottawa Beach on a train leaving\nfor the cottagers who wished to look over their properties. This was especial-\nhere at 9:55 p.m. Later in the season, probably about June 15, excursions\nly necessary because of the barrenness of the area and the great amount of\nwill be given from Milwaukee to Ottawa Beach and from Ottawa Beach to\nshifting sand which settled on verandas and blocked walkways and doors. On\nMilwaukee every Saturday night at one fare for the round trip.\nthis train trip Mr. Heald announced that F.B. Stearns would be the hotel mana-\nger and that in another year the hotel would once again be enlarged. In May\nEntertainments of various kinds were always featured at the resorts.\nthe following announcement was made:\nIn August, 1900, a balloon ascension was arranged and John Grouix of Grand\nRapids was the featured aeronaut. The ascension was made in the late after-\nThe Pere Marquette Boat Line between Ottawa Beach and Chicago will\nnoon when there was little wind.\nbegin operations next Monday. This line will run in connection with the\npassenger train from Detroit. The train will leave Detroit at 5:15 p.m.,\nAs the balloon left the earth the clever young athlete performed\narriving at the beach at 11 o'clock, when the steamer will leave for\ngymnastic feats and waved a goodbye salute to the crowd. Never was a\nMilwaukee. A steamer will also leave Milwaukee every night, arriving\nfiner ascension witnessed. Every move of the young man showed that he\nat the Beach in time to connect with a train for Detroit at 6 a.m.\nknew not the meaning of the word \"danger.\" When he reached a height of\nabout 2,500 feet the crowd watched while he left the balloon and started\nThis important event took place and later the newspaper reported:\ndown with the parachute. A sudden jerk caused him to lose his grip and,\nto the horror of the spectators, he fell to the water He came whirl-\nThe new Pere Marquette Boat line from Ottawa Beach to Milwaukee\ning through space, his arms and legs dangling and twisting. Then his\nbegan operations last Monday. The first boat in port was the PERE MAR-\nbody started to turn over and with frightful rapidity as he plunged\nQUETTE NO. 3. She made the first trip in place of NO. 4, which was under-\nto death. He struck in about 2 feet of water a few rods east of the Pere\ngoing repairs at the time and was not put on the line until Wednesday.\nMarquette freight dock. His body bounded in the air and a shower of water\nThe PETOSKY arrived Tuesday morning and with the NUMBER 4 will remain\nwas dashed in the air\nin service during the season. Both steamers are ranked with the finest\nin the lake and are handsomely equipped to take care of the passenger\nThe rail and boat service of the Pere Marquette continued all through\nand freight traffic.\nthe summer and it was discontinued at the end of the season on October 14.\nCaptain Joseph Dorrity is in command of the PETOSKY and Capt. Jo-\nAt that time the newspaper noted:\nseph Russell has charge of the NO. 4. Both captains are veteran seamen\nand their record in marine circles is A-1.\nPassenger Solicitor Cleveland, representing the Milwaukee end of\nCottages at Ottawa Beach, Mich.\nthe line, was in Holland on Tuesday and, in company with Agent J.C. Hol-\ncomb, visited many points of interest in this city Parties desiring\nto go to Milwaukee under the present arrangement must go either by the\nCottages at Ottawa Beach, Mich.\nThe lack of vegetation gives a clue to the massive amounts of sand which were\nshifted each year by autumn and winter winds. There is much more plant life\nin the area at the present time.\n94\n95\nCD. RAPIDS, OTTAWA BEACH AND MILWAUKEE LINE\nGOING WEST\nMls.\n*Every day.\nGOING EAST\nThe Pere Marquette Railroad Company is considering plans for the\nGRAND RAPIDS. Ar\n6.1\nGRANDVILLE\nestablishment of an elaborate freight and passenger car ferry service\n7.4\nJENISON\n11.0\nHUDSONVILLE\nbetween Chicago and Ottawa Beach. The scheme is to operate the boat lines\n16.5\nVRIESLAND\nin connection with the railway system. The company is now having built\nDuring\nSummer\nSeason\nOnly\n20.8\nZEELAND\nAr\nHOLLAND\nLv\nLv\nHOLLAND\nAr\nan immense ferry car with elaborate passenger accommodations, and it is\nWAVERLY\nLv\nsaid that this, with three other boats of equal size, will be put on\n32.0 Ar..OTTAWA BEACH.\n117.0 Ar MILWAUKEE\nthe Chicago-Ottawa Beach line.\n(Steamer)\nFor several years the Chicago and West Michigan road, which is\nJ. K. V. AGNEW. Superintendent, Grand Rapids.\nnow part of the Pere Marquette system, has been operating through pass-\nenger trains between Chicago and points on the line north of New Buf-\nFrom a 1900 timetable\nfalo, Indiana, as far as Grand Rapids. Between Chicago and New Buffalo\nthe trains are operated over the Michigan Central, for which the Pere\nthe freighter into a passenger boat to operate between Holland and Milwaukee.\nMarquette pays the former $2 for each passenger carried between Chicago\nPart of the change involved making cabins on the upper and lower decks, as\nand New Buffalo. As the Pere Marquette has gone into the ferry business\nwell as an area for evening entertainments. These changes would provide space\nextensively, its officers are of the opinion that the lake service might\nfor many more passengers.\nbe extended to cover the Chicago business.\nThe idea is to take freight and passengers by ferry from Chicago\nIn the summer of 1900 the Pere Marquette also announced plans for a mass-\nto Ottawa Beach, and there to connect with the railroad for this city,\nive extension and enlargement of the Hotel Ottawa. The changes were estimated\nMackinac, and Detroit, to all of which points the road has through lines.\nto cost over $50,000. The changes were not implemented immediately; after a\nThe company now operates freight and passenger car ferries between Mil-\ndelay of a year the newspaper stated:\nwaukee and Ottawa Beach, Milwaukee and Muskegon, and Milwaukee and Lud-\nington. It also operates ferries between Manitowoc and Ludington.\nThe Pere Marquette will break ground for the immediate erection\nof a $40,000 hotel at Ottawa Beach. The plans are not yet drawn but the\nThe changes proposed were further explained when the details of the\ncontractor has instructions to commence operations at once, and he will\nmodeling of PERE MARQUETTE No. 5 were announced. It was proposed to convert re-\nbe furnished running plans so that no time will be lost. Mr. Heald, Pres-\nident of the Pere Marquette, called on Architect William Williamson and\ntold him he could go ahead and put up the hotel, a rough sketch of which\nwas prepared a year ago at the time that Mr. Heald announced that the\nproperty at Ottawa Beach would be enlarged.\nThe new part will have a frontage of 318 feet on the channel and\nwill be 64 feet deep. It is designed to follow the bend of the channel\njust below the present house; and at the extreme west end towards the\nbig lake, there will be a T shaped wing. The top of the T will be 152\nfeet long and 45 feet deep. An idea of the magnitude of the new hotel\nwhen it is added to the present accommodation may be obtained from the\nstatement of the architect that there will be 185 rooms available for\nguests. This will take care of any crowd that has ever been in the resort\nand provides for growth.\nThe new hotel will contain 32 rooms with private baths which will\nbe a convenience not often met with in summer resort houses.\nJuly 1 is the date set when the building must be completed and\nready, not only to be turned over to the Pere Marquette, but also to\nbe used by guests. To carry out the work the architect will rush the\nplans, not preparing any elevation designs or perspectives. He will fur-\nnish Henry Green, to whom the contract for the hotel has been awarded,\nLEAVING\nthe plans for the foundation and work will immediately begin.\nEarly in 1901, the Pere Marquette, which had not previously kept the\nOttawa Beach branch line open in winter, cleared the line from Waverly to the\nBeach so that materials for the hotel construction could be brought in. The\nhotel work then went ahead all that spring. In March it was announced that,\nThe $50,000 Pere Marquette hotel which is being erected at Ottawa\n96\n97\nCANCADO\nJENSON\nPARK\nTITALA\nBEACH\nMACATAWA PARK\nAn artist's sketch of the entrance to Black Lake in 1900. The Ottawa\nHotel it. is a three story building with a walkway to the Annex which is behind Beach\nAn artist's sketch of the entrance to Black Lake in 1910. Notice the great\nThe railroad comes between the Hotel and the Annex. The piers are straight.\nlength of the Ottawa Beach Hotel and the railroad with its five sidings. The\narrow shaped piers extend quite far into Lake Michigan.\n97a\n97b\nBeach will be leased to J. Boyd Pantlind, proprietor of the Morton House.\nthe hotel and for the entire area. A second improvement was the enlargement\nThe deal is not entirely completed but it is expected that it will be\nand strengthening of the Ottawa Beach pier. The pier improvement was very nec-\nannounced with full particulars on Mr. Pantlind's return from the South.\nessary for the safe landing of the Flint and Pere Marquette boats NO. 3 and\nHe and Pres. Charles M. Heald of the P.M. are together at Hot Springs,\nNO. 4, but \"the water at the harbor is too shallow to admit [boat] NO. 5 and\nArkansas, and it was stated before they left that the terms would proba-\nuntil some dredging is done at this port she will run on the Ludington-Milwau-\nbly be arranged before the trip was finished. Chief Clerk J. Mortimer\nkee Route.\" A later dredging eliminated the shallowness, and the F. & P.M.\nRathbone of the Morton will be put in charge of the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nNO. 5 began coming to Ottawa Beach in June.\nby Mr. Pantlind if the arrangements are carried out. Mr. Pantlind him-\nself will probably have little personal supervision over the house ex-\nThe hotel work went forward in the spring; J. Boyd Pantlind arranged\ncept as he will be the Manager and will make frequent visits to see the\nfor the purchase of over $10,000 worth of new furniture and furnishings. The\nplace and keep in touch with the conditions. Naturally, the furniture\nnewspaper noted:\nmen will be turned toward Ottawa Beach when Mr. Pantlind assumes control,\nand it is believed that many of them can be taught to come to Michigan\nOn the Ottawa Beach side naturally everything is centered in the\nfor resorting as well as for furniture. The new hotel is to be opened\nbuilding of the hotel for the Pere Marquette. One can hardly realize\non July 4 if all goes well. The contractor promised to have it ready\nwhat a big thing the house is going to be unless it is seen. The old\nfor use on July 1, and the force of men that he has at work now shows\npart of the hotel is retained but it is dwarfed by the addition. The\nthat he means business. At present the men are putting in the 140 odd\ntrains are running to the lower end of the new house, nearer the big\npiers. These are of concrete and have a spider base.\nlake, and the P.M. passenger boats for Milwaukee are stopping at the\nwharf at that end and not at the old wharf opposite the station where\nMr. Pantlind, an experienced hotelier from Grand Rapids, had ideas on\nthe Holland-Chicago line of boats stopped. On the Beach side too, cot-\ndaily room rates, on bringing in. \"a skilled corps of colored waiters,\" and\ntages are being rebuilt and generally there are signs of the approach\nalso on bringing in special bands and entertainments. He also planned on having\nof the holiday season. Later, when the hotel is completed, there will\nthe families of out-of-state furniture buyers (who went to Grand Rapids each\nbe some improvements made to the grounds which will add greatly to the\nyear for special furniture buying days) stay at Ottawa Beach.\nappearance of the resort as it is approached from the lake. The acquis-\nition of the Holland line of boats by the Graham & Morton people is con-\nA major improvement for the hotel and its guests in 1901 was the instal-\nsidered very fortunate for the Beach by those who have cottages there.\nlation of an electric light plant which could provide electrical power for\nThey say that Chicago is covered with signs announcing and booming the\n5784. Hotel Ottawa, Ottawa Beach, Mich,\nGRAND RAPIDS, MICH. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF OTTAWA BEACH.\nA rare post card view of the Ottawa Beach Hotel before it was enlarged in 1901.\nNote the walkway going over the railway to the Annex.\n99\n98\nFred would tell them, \"Throw your nickel and you get the corn.\" or When\nseason of the famous little Michigan resort and that the boat line will\npeanuts. coin came, then Fred was a sure shot with either bags of popcorn to pea- en-\npour resorters in there when the weather warms up.\nnuts. the Colby made enough money from his years of operating concessions\nable him to retire to California.\nThe greatly enlarged hotel opened, as planned, early in July, 1901, and\nit had a very successful summer season. Before the season ended, there were\nthat winter 28 new cottages were built, as well as a new depot\nannouncements of still other improvements which would be made for the next\nwith was built as were the tennis courts and the golf course. The large their\npedestrian During walkways both to the hotel and to the beach. A pair of bowling dock\nyear's guests:\nwas alleys repaired; on Sunday, May 25, 1902, the steamers to Milwaukee began\nTennis courts and golf links are going to be a feature at Ottawa\nBeach by another year. There is plenty of room for them directly near\ndaily crossings.\nthe hotel and within a score of feet of the waters of Black Lake\nFishing was always a popular activity at Ottawa Beach. The following was\nThese sports will be of interest, not only to players, but to guests\naccount, in a 1902 newspaper, includes the name of Bill Murphy whose name\nof the hotel from the porches. At the hotel too some changes are going\nfor decades connected with Ottawa Beach:\nto be made. It is understood that the Ottawa was taken by Pantlind as\nan experiment, but that it has proved a great success so that the house\nA gentleman employed by the P.M. railway at Ottawa Beach has a\nwill probably run more full days than any other hotel in the north and\nthat Mr. Pantlind will take the management again for another season.\nnew a friend name. and His went friends out call to spear him \"Pitchfork.\" fish. Luck He thought He was borrowed with it him was a and pitchfork a muskellunge he impaled from\nMany of these plans matured. The Pere Marquette purchased the 160-acre\nand on invited his friends to dine with him. They did so but found inves-\nthe glistening tines a ten pounder. that\nBosman vineyard which was later developed into a golf course. Improvements\nwere planned on the pavilion and a small rail line to the beach at Lake Michi-\nthe tigation and it turned out that it was not a 'muskie' but a tough Ottawa dog-\ntempting looking dish of fish was hard to chew. This led to\ngan. The railroad also gave B.J. Reynolds, a Grand Rapids cigar dealer, a six-\nfish. They say that spearing with a pitchfork is now the style at to\nyear lease of the \"provision and souvenir stands at Ottawa Beach\" which had\nBeach and that Murphy, the keeper of the fishing tackle, is lines. going\npreviously been operated by F.K. Colby who now operated the concession at Ma-\nput in a stock of pitchforks and rent them instead of hooks and\ncatawa.\nColby had been the first operator of the concession and, among other\nAnother fishing story, of a slightly later period, is told by hands Stanley who\nthings, had a small popcorn wagon at the docks. His stand was very popular as\n\"Doc\" Curtis. He tells of seeing plump Chicago ladies with bejeweled\npassengers on the steamers frequently called down to the dock for popcorn or\nNo. 15. Fishing in Macalama Bay, Holland, Alich\nNo. 02 Ottawa Beach, Mich.\n101\n100\nGERALDA\nwere sitting on the docks on hotel chairs and fishing for perch. When a fish\nsaid a large dog had shoved a little girl off the dock. Another said\nwas hooked they would pull it up so a bellboy could take the fish off the hook\na child was in the water. All agreed that something dreadful must have\nand place a new bait on the hook so that the ladies could again place their\nhappened. The danger signal was blown and the life saving crew responded.\nlines in the water.\nThe hooks and grapnels were thrown overboard and the search for the body\nwas begun. An object was brought to the surface. In breathless suspense\nIn June the Pere Marquette steamer NO. 5 came to Ottawa Beach to begin\nthe crowd peered into the black water and saw a log. Another object was\na daily run to Milwaukee. Over $50,000 had been spent on remodeling the ship\nbrought to the surface. It looked white, like a face, but it was a string\nwhich was 226 feet long and 31 feet wide. This steamer, along with PERE MAR-\nof fish.\nQUETTE NO. 2, continued on the cross lake run until September, 1902. The steam-\nThe search for a body was fruitless. But the keen-eyed life savers\ners always carried passengers, but their major function was to carry \"break\ndiscovered a clue. On a timber under the dock was the imprint of a wet\nbulk\" freight to and from Milwaukee. This cargo was unloaded at Ottawa Beach\narm, further on was another imprint. From timber to timber they followed\nand loaded into railroad cars for shipment to the east.\nthe damp trail. It led to the platform skirting the hotel grounds and\nthere they found the imprint of bare feet leading to the lawn. Under\nThe Ottawa opened with a fanfare on July 4, 1902. The season was a good\nthe dock they found two skirts and then it dawned upon the frenzied crowd\none. One macabre event, a practical joke, took place in August:\nthat it was the victim of a cruel joke that some young resorter, whose\nbrains are in his feet, had dressed in his sister's clothes and jumped\nThey are looking for a fresh resorter at Ottawa Beach. He did his\noff the dock, that he had crept ashore over the timbers, and that he\ngrand fool act last Saturday night. The steamer HARVEY WATSON was at\nhad fled to his cottage to laugh to his heart's content\nthe dock which was very crowded. A splash was heard and the cry went\nup \"man overboard.\" Capt. Frank Van Ry peered over the steamer's rail\nAlthough the season was moderately successful for the hotel, the Pere\nand saw a dark object struggling in the water. He is an ex-life saver\nMarquette, as a railroad, did not do very well. At the close of the year Pres-\nand his first thought was to jump to the rescue. He seized the life buoy\nident Charles M. Heald and most of the Board of Directors had to resign. They\nand was about to leap into the water when a woman became entangled in\nwere replaced by a new Board with F.H. Prince as President, and M.J. Carpenter\nthe line. When the tangle was cleared the object had disappeared. The\nas Vice President and General Manager. A few months later an announcement was\ncaptain knew then that it was useless to jump and started an investiga-\nmade that the PERE MARQUETTE NO. 2, 3, and 4 were sold. The following spring\ntion. Screams from the dock told plainly what had happened. One woman\nthe company announced that it would no longer run trains to connect at Ottawa\nBeach with the Graham & Morton steamers until the heavy summer season began.\nThis lack of service led to a greater cooperation between the Interurban Rail-\nThe Heald cottage, which is still at Ottawa Beach, was taken over by the Pant-\nlind family who lived in it for many decades. The porch and the roofline have\nbeen modified in recent years.\nThe Pantlind cottage in the 1920's\n102\n103\nroad at Macatawa and the Graham & Morton Line. It also laid the groundwork\nfor the later closing of the rail line to Ottawa Beach.\nIn 1904, Fred A. Wurzburg was appointed Postmaster at Ottawa Beach. He\nalso took over the entire management of the pavilion, the grocery store, and\nThe golf course was laid out and developed in 1903. W.H. Symons, a golf\nthe art store, all of which were in one large building. The 1905 season was\nexpert from the Kent County Golf Club, came to put the new course into first\na good one. In July, the Ottawa had its greatest day ever for it served 328\nclass condition.\nbreakfasts, 364 dinners, and 386 suppers. It should be noted that in that year\nthe lake water was abnormally high and it flooded over the lawns and cement\nThe newly enlarged hotel required a reliable staff and 50 German people\nwalks near the water's edge. Albert Tanner, the custodian, had to lay planking\nwere brought in from Chicago to help with the hotel services. At various times\non the walks so as to enable people to walk near or on the docks.\nof staff, in 1904, seems to have eliminated such problems.\nin previous years there had been problems of staff dishonesty but this change\nThe tourist activity to the Holland resorts became very significant in\nthe first decade of this century. Many ferry boats were built and operated\nOnce again, in 1904, there was a renewal of the long dormant feud be-\nat this time. The Wolverine Boat Works built a resort ferry boat, the SKIDOO\ntween authorities at Ottawa Beach and Macatawa Park. The Macatawa ferry boats,\nwhich was 45 feet long and with a 16 foot beam. It was powered by a 27 horse-\nHARVEY WATSON and POST BOY, refused to pay for landing rights at Ottawa Beach.\npower gasoline engine. Judge Everett also contracted, with the Bird Company\nThis meant that those Graham & Morton passengers wanting to go to Macatawa\nof Saugatuck, for a ferry steamer for his Waukazoo resort. This boat, the TUS-\nhad to disembark from the steamer directly to the ferry boat without stepping\nCARORA, was also gasoline powered and it was 45 feet long with a 12 foot beam.\nashore at Ottawa Beach. (The Pere Marquette wanted $350 docking privileges\nW.J. Murphy of Ottawa Beach purchased a 30-foot boat with a 10 horsepower en-\nfor the season.) In retaliation the ferryboat from Ottawa Beach was not al-\ngine so that he could ferry passengers to Jenison Park. This boat was named\nlowed to land at the Macatawa dock although it could, and did, land passengers\nthe QUO VADIS. Other boats in operation in 1906 were the HARVEY WATSON and\nat the Life Saving Station. It took several months to settle these differences\nthe MARY.\nand by that time the ARTHUR S., owned by boat liveryman Arthur Tanner, and\nthe GLADYS, also entered the ferry business. The Waukazoo authorities did not\nThe increased depth of the channel made it possible for the G. & M. line\nenter into this controversy and their ferry, JENNIE G., under Captain Oliver\nto plan for its steamers to stop at both Ottawa Beach and Macatawa. Dredging\nDeto, continued to serve all the resorts.\ncontinued at the Ottawa Beach dock but the waters were very shallow and the\nsteamship line finally made arrangements for all freight to go by way of the\nInterurban to Grand Rapids. The Pere Marquette only handled freight for cities\nbeyond Grand Rapids.\nA 4-4-0 locomotive inherited by the Pere Marquette from a previous railroad\nline. This engine was useful when there were sharp curves, steep grades and a\nroadbed that was not well stabilized. Such engines were chiefly used for branch\nwork and thus were well suited to work on the Ottawa Beach line.\nMurphy collection\n104\n105\nAt Ottawa Beach Mr. H. Baker, who had a grocery business, opened with\nnight. The hotels and the yacht clubs also sponsored fireworks which were,\nan enlarged stock in 1906. A relative, Capt. Gus Baker, went into commercial\nat times, set off from a barge in Black Lake, but at other times from the sand\nfishing at this time. He would set his nets out in Lake Michigan and then,\ndunes at Macatawa. Truly it was a glamorous and festive night.\nfrom day to day, he would lift them. He sold his fresh fish to the resort ho-\ntels and also to the cottagers. In this year the Michigan Bankers Association\nThe success of the shipping and the passenger service encouraged the\nheld their convention at Ottawa Beach in late June. One of the features of\nGraham & Morton Line to take the PURITAN out of service at the close of the\nthe hotel was the 9-hole golf course managed by W.H. Downs. The course opened\n1907 season so that she could be rebuilt at Manitowoc. The ship was cut in\non June 25 so that the visiting bankers could have a round of golf on the new\ntwo, and fifty feet were added to her length, making a total of 300 feet. The\ncourse.\nPURITAN was a very fast ship and usually made the trip to Chicago in less than\nsix hours.\nOne of the summer outings that year was a group from the Kent Scientific\nMuseum of Grand Rapids. Seventeen young men came to collect insects; in 10\nIn 1908 the ferrying of passengers around the lake was taken over by\ndays they collected 20,000 insects of about 600 different species.\nthe new Macatawa Transportation Company which did the ferrying for the resorts\nand for the rail and steamship companies. The new company had four boats: NIMA,\nThe highlight of the season was the Venetian Night held on August 2.\nSKIDOO, HOLIDAY, and FLORENCE. Since the owners of the company no longer com-\nOver 300 boats participated. They were all lighted and decorated as were the\npeted with each other and did not duplicate services, the business grew very\ndocks, the hotels, and the cottages. A cannon was placed high on the Ottawa\nrapidly.\nBeach dunes so as to boom the signal for the fireworks display to begin in\nthe harbor.\nFishing continued to be a major lure of the Holland resorts. The news-\npaper reported:\nIn the days before movies, television, radio, and all other forms of\nentertainment, Venetian Night was a marvelous entertainment. Stanley \"Doc\"\nSeldom has the fishing been as good in local waters as at present.\nCurtis mentions the large numbers of people who came by ship, or by the Inter-\nThe fishermen at the piers and breakwater have had very good success\nurban, and he tells of the great numbers of Pullman cars which came with guests\nthis summer catching perch and, with a westerly wind blowing, the white\nfrom Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and elsewhere. These people lived in their Pull-\nbass fishing was never better than it is this season. Great schools of\nman cars on the sidings behind the Ottawa Beach Hotel for the few days of Ve-\nthem enter the channel and fishermen have had the best of luck. The black\nnetian Night. The entertainments were the lighted and decorated boats which\nbass, large and small mouth, are biting well, to say nothing of the pick-\nparaded around the shores of Black Lake. At the hotels and at many private\nerel and other game fish.\nlakefront homes Japanese lanterns were part of the beauty and glamour of the\nThe newspaper also reported on the growth of Holland's tourist industry:\nAll the resorts this season have been doing a phenomenal amount\nP. M. Station, Ollawa Beach, Mich\nof business. The volume of business far exceeds that of last year or,\nin fact, any previous year in the history of the resorts. One rather\nFishing on Piers, Macatawa, Mich.\n106\n107\nUnusual ships came to Holland from time to time. In July, 1909, the WOL-\nPERE MARQUETTE\nVERINE, a three-masted, iron-hulled man-of-war which had been launched in 1843,\narrived on a tour. The ship had been built to protect the interests of the\nCHICAGO-GRAND RAPIDS-OTTAWA BEACH TRAINS\nUnited States in the Great Lakes, and it was powered by steam as well as by\nsails. [The WOLVERINE was scrapped in 1949 in Erie, Pennsylvania.]\nSat'd'v\nDaily\nEvery\nWeek\nTO THE BEACH\nS'nd'y\nWeek\nS'nd'y\nOnly\nEx.Sat\nDay\nDays\nOnly\nDays\nOnly\nPM\nPM\nAM\nAM\nPM\nPM\nPM\nOn Monday, July 26, 1909, the Pere Marquette rail line to Ottawa Beach\nLv. Chicago\n55\n11\n55\n40\nGrand Rapids\n7 00\nhad its first and only fatal accident. The line to the beach was single track\nAr. Ottawa Beach.\n52\nAM\nAM\nFM\nPM\nPM\nFM\nand trains often backed down the six mile length of track since there was no\nOTTAWA BEACH TO GRAND RAPIDS AND CHICAGO\nway to turn the engines around at the end. On this morning Engineer Michael\nWeek\nS'nd'y\nWeek\nFROM THE BEACH\nWeek\nS'nd'y\nWeek\nS'nd'y\nPowers had a train consisting of a baggage car and several coaches. The wheels\nDays\nOnly\nDays\nDays\nOnly\nDays\nOnly\nof the engine's tender, which carried coal and water, jumped the tracks north-\nAM\nAM\nAM\nPM\nPM\nPM\nPM\nLv. Ottawa Beach.\n10\n11\n00\n40\n9\n15\nwest of Waukazoo, and the baggage car and coaches broke loose and went a quar-\nGrand Repids\n6\nAr. Chicago\nAM\nAM\nPM\nPM\nPM\nter of a mile on the incline. The engine's driving wheels jumped the track;\nAM\nAM\nThrough sleeping car leaves Chicago Saturday night only at 11.55 PM.\nafter riding on the ties for a few yards, the engine fell over on its side\narrives Ottawa Beach 5.52 AM. Leaves Ottawa Beach Sunday night only\nat 9.15 PM, arrives Chicago 6.55.AM.\nand into a nearby ditch. The fireman, L.E. Lewis, was then hurled through the\nTaken from the 1908 timetable\ndoorway and landed near the fence line 25 feet away. Powers, the engineer,\ndid not have a chance to save himself, being penned in the cab. Farmers from\nthe neighborhood came to the scene and managed to release Powers; however,\nobserving businessman estimates that the amount of business was fully\nhe died soon after.\ndouble that of the 1906 season, and even greatly exceeding the business\nof 1907.\nThe wreck caused about 500 feet of damage to the track but that was soon\nIn all departments of the resort activity the businessmen are more\nrepaired and was in use again. At the coroner's inquest it was reported that\nthan satisfied. The hotel business, boat ferry, boat livery, laundry,\nthe train was going about 30 miles per hour instead of the normal 12 miles\ngrocery, and all the other lines of business were exceptionally good\nper hour.\nthis year. This is all the more remarkable on account of the shortness\nof the season.\nMail service to Ottawa Beach was very poor for most of the year. In the\nsummer time there was a fourth class post office; the Postmaster was paid,\nThe level of Black Lake varied from year to year. In the winter of 1908-\nnot for the stamps sold, but for the stamps cancelled which, in 1909, amounted\n1909 the level was again extremely low. In many places boat houses were so\nto $352. There was twice a day mail service to Ottawa Beach, but there was no\nhigh out of the water that men could walk under them. They almost seemed like\nbird houses as they perched on their pilings.\nBathing, Ottawa Beach, Mich.\nNo. 8 was a 4-4-0 type locomotive built in 1871. It had been owned by the Chi-\nNote how close the bath house is to the water's edge\ncago & West Michigan Railroad.\n108\n109\nmail box service for residents of the area who had to depend on kindly neigh-\nbors for help with their mail. After every resident signed a petition asking\nfor a mail route extension, Rural Route Number 11 was extended to the area\nresidents.\nThe success of the 1909 ferrying service to the resorts encouraged Cap-\ntain Frank Van Ry to look for an additional steamer for the next season. He\nwas able to purchase the 84-foot YORK at Peoria, Illinois, and added it to\nthe ferry fleet with the name D.P. PERRY.\nThe major event in Holland in June, 1910, was the state G.A.R. encamp-\nment. This was planned for early in June when all the area hotels, including\nthe Ottawa Beach Hotel, opened early to accommodate the many visitors. Boyd\nPantlind, who had just signed another 5-year lease for the Hotel Ottawa, pro-\nvided quality service at the beach as well as in his Grand Rapids hotels, the\nMorton House and the Pantlind Hotel.\nThe affairs of the cottagers and the land owners at Ottawa Beach were\nalways somewhat confused. In July, 1910, the newspaper reported:\nThe Ottawa Beach Improvement Association, which has been in opera-\ntion for the past 3 years, plans merging with the old West Michigan Park\nAssociation. The latter organization has been inactive for many years,\nbut an order of the Kent Circuit Court just issued has revived it. By\nthe decision, the Park Association was held to have no legal control\nover the affairs of the resort, and as the Improvement Association acted\nmerely on agreement, a merger was planned. It is hoped that the tan-\ngled affairs of the resort management may be straightened out.\nThe Association's controversy with the railroad continued for many years.\nViews of the train wreck on the Ottawa Beach line on July 26, 1909\nThe ferry D.P. PERRY in the channel with the Hotel Ottawa at the right. Note\nthe elevated walkway to the Annex which was on the hillside.\nKayes collection\n110\n111\nIn January, 1912, Judge Padgham of the Allegan Circuit Court decided that the\nIn 1913 the Pere Marquette Railroad Company, which was in receivership,\nWest Michigan Park Association could not eject the railroad from the lands\ndiscontinued the rail service to Ottawa Beach. It was at this time that Benja-\nin controversy. Because this decision did not decide all the points at issue\nmin S. Hanchett, who controlled the Interurban (Grand Rapids, Holland and Chi-\nin the controversy, it was decided to carry the matter to the Michigan Supreme\ncago Railroad) which ran on the south shore of Black Lake, said:\nCourt for a decision.\nThe Ottawa Beach trade has never received special attention from\nWhen the lots at Ottawa Beach were platted and houses built, there was\nthe Holland Interurban road, but it is our intention to give particular\nno provision made for automobiles or other conveyances. The houses were very\nthought to the future development of the Beach service.\nclose together, but there were park areas which created open space for the\ncottagers. The closeness of the houses was a serious problem when fires broke\nOne immediate outcome was the establishment of a ferry service by the\nout from time to time.\nInterurban to the north shore resorts. Hanchett also ordered a new ferry boat,\nthe OTTAWA, from the Johnson Boat Company of Ferrysburg; it was launched on\nIn August, 1910, there was a serious fire. It began in the chimney of\nJune 5, 1914. The OTTAWA had very modern facilities, and it could carry 250\nthe Ralph Dutton home and burned that cottage as well as the Steinhardt, Ross,\npassengers on its ferrying run from the Interurban dock at Jenison Park to\nand Bates cottages. The Life Saving crew took charge of the fire fighting;\nOttawa Beach and to Waukazoo.\nthey were assisted by the ferry boat crews who used the hoses from the ferry\nboats. Another hose line was run from the Ottawa Beach electric power plant.\nThe cessation of the railroad service also generated other new ideas.\nIt took 1½ hours to bring the fire under control.\nJ. Newton Hind of Ottawa Beach stated:\nOther fires, in boathouses, took place in August and October, 1911. In\nIt is entirely probable that within the next year or two the Ottawa\nthe latter fire the boathouses of Alfred Baxter and Charles B. Judd were de-\nBeach branch of the Pere Marquette railway will pass into the hands of\nstroyed as well as some of the boats which were in storage.\nthe company which has so recently taken over the Holland Interurban.\nWith frequent trains early and late in the season, and some change in\nThe impact of the automobile first struck the Holland resorts in the\nthe line of the road, the North shore of Black Lake will become dotted\nsummer of 1912. Business was slow because it was thought that people were be-\nwith cottages just as the South shore is now lined with them. There will\nginning to travel from place to place during their vacation instead of staying\nbe a steady growth at Ottawa Beach, and at Waukazoo, the latter already\nin a single location. The summer was cool and rainy; this, too, had adverse\na community of fully 40 cottages, with a hotel which is always filled\neffects on the resorts. Even the Venetian Night was neglected.\nwhen open. Presumably when the present Ottawa Beach branch of the Pere\nMarquette is electrified, the line will swing into Waukazoo\nThe OTTAWA was built by the Interurban railroad so as to provide service to\nThe cement water tower is still standing by the last house on Auburn Avenue.\nthe guests of the Hotel Ottawa.\nCenter for Archival Collections\nKiekintveld collection\nBowling Green State University, Ohio\n112\n113\nIn June, 1913, Hanchett (of the Interurban), Morton (of the Graham\nMorton Line), and J. Boyd Pantlind (of the Grand Rapids hotels) secured and\nOther changes and improvements were also made. Highland & Green, a Chic-\nunder option the on the Ottawa Beach Hotel from the Pere Marquette Railway. That an\nago architectural firm, made plans for doubling the size of the dining room\nmanagement of M.H. Turner, everything was very successful. The summer,\nby extending it into the porch. The office was enlarged, and the parlors on\nwas well booked for the entire season; on one occasion there were over Hotel 500\nthe second floor were converted into suites with full baths. Other rooms with\nguests who were served dinners.\nbaths were placed on the third floor. The Annex, which was on the hill behind\nthe railroad, was turned around to give the rooms frontage on the lake; there\nThe new owners of the Hotel created two different companies in 1914\nwere also porches added to the Annex. On the lake front the old freight house\nconduct ized their affairs. One company, the Ottawa Beach Resort Company, to\nand dock, formerly used by the Pere Marquette, were removed to provide better\nat $40,000, would handle the affairs of the resort, i.e., the beach, capital-\nviews of the lake. There were also improvements on the grounds, principally\nat bathing, etc. The other company, the Ottawa Beach Hotel Company, capitalized the\nbetter walks and better lighting.\n$50,000, in controlled the hotel itself. J. Boyd Pantlind, one of the\nwas who overall charge of managing the hotel although there was a resident owners, man-\nA new resort company, later called Chippewa Resort, was planned at this\nager was concerned with daily affairs.\ntime by the Kent-Ottawa Realty Company. The officers of this new company were\nJames Buys, President; Isaac Kouw, Vice President; William H. Hinsey, Secre-\ntary; and G.J. Stewart, Treasurer. Access to this 75 acres of resort land,\njust east of the Ottawa Beach Golf Club, was by ferry boat from both Ottawa\nBeach and Jenison Park although it was hoped that the electric railway would\nConvenient to\nbe coming through on the Pere Marquette right-of-way.\nReach\nBy the summer of 1915, Chippewa Resort, with 205 lots platted, was in\nthe process of building a dock 168 feet long so that there would be plenty\nof space for any of the ferry boats. William Van Anrooy, Holland's waterfront\nMilwaukee\nGrand Rapids\ncontractor, completed this dock.\nHolland\nOTTAWA BEACH\nDetroit\nO\nT\nT\nA\nW\nA\nTo those who do' not know the Ottawa\nBeach Hotel it may be said that Ottawa Beach\nOpens June Twenty-seven\nis in Michigan, across Lake Michigan from\nChicago. It is in an ideal location, with the Big\nLINES\nNineteen Fourteen\nLake on one side, and Black Lake or Macatawa\nBay on the other, these making a harbor for\npassenger steamers. At the head of this bay is\nE\nA\nC\nH\nHolland, five miles from Ottawa Beach. The\nBeach is reached by the splendid steamers of\nthe Graham & Morton Transportation Com-\npany, plying from Chicago to Holland, first\nstopping at a Resort Pier directly in front of\nthe hotel, built to accommodate this Summer\nTraffic. From this Pier to Grand Rapids there\nis a high speed double track electric railway\nrunning half hourly cars and making the trip\nin an hour. Thus located, let us revert to the\ninteresting news that the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nCompany has been reorganized with Mr. J.\nBoyd Pantlind as President. The fact that\nMr. Pantlind will again personally manage the\nHotel assures a brilliant and successful season.\nPLATTED AND OWNED BY\nThe Hotel has undergone extensive im-\nBig Bay Realty Co.\nprovements since last season. It has been\nChippewa Resort as shown by the plat is a strip of land containing 70\nacres of choicest lakefront property. The lake frontage consists of shallow\nbeach for 150 to 200 feet from the shore with beautiful white sand bottom,\nmaking one of the finest bathing beaches on Black Lake. [An early brochure]\n114\n115\nOne of the challenges for the new owners of the Ottawa Beach Hotel was\nto have a bar for its patrons. No bar had been permitted for several years,\nLake Michigan now that many more people were using automobiles. These ideas\nand the new owners wanted to have one. The problem was not as much in securing\nencouraged the merchants, the cottage owners, and Holland's merchants and cit-\na license as in securing bondsmen for the license. The Holland Township Board\nizens to collect money for building a concrete highway on Alpena Beach Road\nwould not recognize any bonds from outside the township. Applicants for the\n(now Lakewood Boulevard.) Road construction was begun late that year, and Getz\nlicenses could get bondsmen from outside the township, but the Board noted\nand Gold contributed $3,000 as their share in building three miles of an 8-foot\nthat the law stated \"they were compelled to approve those who had sufficient\nwide cement highway towards Lake Michigan. This 8-foot wide highway was useful,\namount of property in the township, and then the Board had to approve both\nbut soon there were complaints about it; people felt the need for a 16-foot\nthe bonds and the license for the bar at the Hotel Ottawa.\"\nwide roadway. In the general discussion which ensued the Ottawa County Road\nCommission proposed to make road improvements \"providing Park Township is will-\nThe resorts did not have any outside source of electric power until, in\ning to do their bit.\" It was proposed to vote on a bond issue so as to complete\nthe spring of 1915, the Muskegon Power Company made plans to put power into\nthe roads. [Note: Park Township was set off as a separate township in 1915.]\nevery store and cottage. The Hotel gladly made use of this new power source,\nbut it continued to operate its own generator so that there would not be any\nIn August of 1915, the newspaper reported:\nproblems for hotel guests.\nFishing has been better during the past two weeks than at any time\nThe golf course, which had opened many years earlier, was remodeled in\nduring the past 20 years. Thousands of perch have been caught. Three\nthe spring of 1915. The clubhouse was moved from the first hole to the latter\nweeks are left before the new law goes into effect that sets limits on\npart of the course at a higher elevation. In this new hillside location people\nthe number of perch that anyone can catch to twenty-five. Many persons\nhad a view of the entire 9 holes as well as of Black Lake and the shoreline.\nare taking advantage of the time left and are doing as much fishing as\nThe President of the club, J.B. Howard, also made other improvements for the\npossible now.\ngolfers.\nThe last week of August in 1915, there was a massive Beach Party at Ot-\nGeorge Getz, who lived a mile north of Ottawa Beach, and Egbert Gold\ntawa Beach with a band playing every afternoon and evening. The lighted board-\nof Waukazoo, were both energetic men who were actively engaged in community\nwalk from the hotel to the beach made walking easy for both old and young.\nmatters. Both men were honorary members of the Holland Chamber of Commerce.\nMany activities were planned for both the beach and the water. Balloon ascen-\nAt one meeting of the Chamber in 1915, Getz mentioned that the very poor dock-\nsions were made daily; these attractions, together with a round trip ferry\ning facilities in Holland did not encourage cottagers to trade in the city.\nride from Holland for 25¢, brought thousands of people to the beach. This was\nBoth Getz and Gold also pointed out that there was a need for a good road to\nthe parting event of the summer for most of the hotel staff. Housekeeping,\ndining room, and kitchen help were all transferred to the Pantlind Hotel in\nGrand Rapids even before Labor Day.\n18. Hotel Ottawa, Ottawa Beach, Mich,\nThe club house at the Ottawa Beach Golf Course (ca. 1915)\nKayes collection\n116\n117\nThe mother and daughter had packed their trunks ready to depart\nAt the beginning of 1916, the resorts had problems. The high price of\nfor Canada for the winter. They had lighted a lamp and then strolled\ngasoline made it unprofitable to run the ferry boats to the various resorts.\nto the docks where several fishermen were fishing. They watched the men\nOnly the Interurban ferry, the OTTAWA, continued to give regular service from\nfor a while and were about to return when they saw that their dwelling\nthe trains coming to Jenison Park. The OTTAWA did not give any other ferry\nwas in flames.\nservice. The great heat of that summer drew many thousands of people to the\nThe alarm was quickly given and the Coast Guard, together with\nbeaches; the season was successful until the resorts closed abruptly before\nthe fishermen, tried to be of service but the fire had gained such head-\nLabor Day because the labor unions promised a general strike which would close\nway that nothing could be saved, so they centered their attention on\ndown all the rail service in the country.\nthe cottages of the immediate neighborhood, and it was only through dil-\nigent efforts that these were saved. The night was very quiet and this\nMinor changes and improvements were always being made at Ottawa Beach.\nno doubt had a great deal to do with saving a block of 12 cottages which\nThe amenities of civilization gradually appeared. In 1916 the Ottawa Beach\nwere separated from one another by only a few feet.\nHotel Company purchased several all steel community garages for the many auto-\nIt is said that the Indians also had a large amount of money hidden\nmobiles of its guests. A boon for the area residents also came when gas (made\naway in the house which was also destroyed. The Benedicts have been very\nfrom coal) was promised. Prior to this time much of the lighting at many of\nthrifty Indians and their Indian wares of baskets and curios have had\nthe cottages was with kerosene lamps, and heating of both foods and space was\na ready sale among the resorters for several years. Although the place\nby gasoline and kerosene stoves. With the advent of piped gas, life would be\nis insured the loss will be a heavy one for the Benedicts.\neasier for resorters because the danger of fires from leaking stoves would\nbe decreased.\nPrior to 1917 the residents of Park Township were not concerned with\nroad improvements; but in October of that year the property owners met and\nAlthough all the resorts closed for the winter, activity continued at\ndecided to work towards building a 16-foot wide concrete road. This was a sig-\nOttawa Beach and all around Black Lake. When it was cold enough for the ice\nnificant development, for such a road would open both Waukazoo and Ottawa Beach\nto form, people crossed from shore to shore on the lake. In December, 1916,\nto increasing automobile traffic. In March, the property owners voted on this\nRyan Baker, the Ottawa Beach iceman, claimed the honor of being the first to\nproject. At that time the property values were listed as farmland, $184,000,\ncross Black Lake over the ice when he crossed to Jenison Park on a Monday morn-\nand resort property, $672,775. A road bonding proposal was passed so that con-\ning. He reported that there was already 4 inches of ice. This news brought\ncrete could be laid on Alpena Beach Road [Lakewood Boulevard.] The township\nout the fish shanties allowing the ice fishermen to indulge in their winter-\nplanned on paying for 1 3/4 miles expecting the county to pay for an additional\ntime activity. The news of the ice crossing brought out tales by other of Hol-\nmile. But, promises are not facts; early in 1921 the road was still not com-\nland's stalwarts, such as John Van Vulpen and Fred Quist, who claimed to have\nwalked from Central Park to Marigold Lodge on the previous Saturday. Joe Sha-\nsauguay, too, had crossed the ice when he went to work at the Aniline Factory\n9455\nSTEAMER HOLLAND.\non Saturday. The continuing cold weather brought on the annual harvest of ice\nFROM GRAND RAPIDS TO CHICAGO\nfrom Black Lake.\nDAYLIGHT TRIP $1 50\nHOLLAND INTERURBAN CARS CONNECT.\nStorms and weather are a continual part of the story of Ottawa Beach.\nThe fact of summer sunshine and sand are a bright memory for anyone who has\nvacationed there, but there are other seasons as well. In late August, 1917,\nthere was a summer storm which, to older resorters, was fierce and furious\nbeyond any of their memories. Waves went over the breakwaters, spraying as\nhigh as the lighthouse. A few weeks later an inexplicable seiche occurred:\nA medium sized tidal wave washed up from the lake on the beach\ncovering the entire space between the water line and the sidewalk. The\nwater for a brief time was even with the walk along the lake. It came\nup through the floor of the bathhouse, wetting the feet of the employees.\nThe wave receded very soon and no serious damage was done.\nIndians, who were the original residents at Ottawa Beach, continued to\nbe a part of the summer population there. The newspaper, in 1917, reported:\nA fire Monday evening totally consumed the cottage belonging to\nthe three Indians who have been in the basket making business at Ottawa\nBeach for a great number of years, consuming the house, a large consign-\nment of baskets, reeds, and other Indian wares, besides the furniture\nVan Ark collection\nof the house.\n119\n118\npietery AL Lildt time part or the road was concrete, 8 feet wide,\nThe major event at Ottawa Beach in 1919 was the annual meeting or the\npart was 16-foot wide concrete, and part of it was macadam. The road was not\nSociety of Automotive Engineers. The entire hotel was booked for this event\ncompleted until 1923 when George Getz loaned the Ottawa County Road Commission\nwhich opened on June 23, a week earlier than the normal hotel opening. One\nthe $8,000 needed for the last bit of roadway.\nof the special features of the convention was a daily seaplane to Chicago for\ncarrying mail back and forth.\nOn November 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. Prior to\nthis date the effects of the war were beginning to be noted as when resorter\nThe same group came to Holland early in the 1920 season. The scheduled\nA.W. Hempe sold his 75 foot yacht DOLOMA to the U.S. Navy. By the end of Nov-\nevents of speeches, voting, exhibits and lectures were only part of the pro-\nember the newspaper reported that the hotel at Ottawa Beach was being consid-\ngram which also included water sports, dances, and lawn tournaments. The en-\nered as a reconstruction hospital for \"wounded American soldiers who return\ngineers stayed at the Ottawa Beach Hotel and its Annex as well as at Waukazoo\nfrom the front incapacitated for further war service.\" Nothing ever came of\nand Macatawa. One night everyone was aroused by a unique advertising stunt:\nthis idea.\nWhen the guests were quietly sleeping at 4 o'clock, everyone of\nThe war had other effects on the local scene. In June, 1918, a ship from\nthe 600 rooms contained excited guests. At the given hour 600 new alarm\nthe Great Lakes Training School came for a brief stay. The ship, the ISLA DE\nclocks went off at the same time. When the guests opened the doors they\nLUZON, had been captured in Manila Bay in 1918, and it housed 75 sailors who\nfound, tied with baby ribbon, an alarm clock about the size of \"Little\nwere being trained for other wartime service. At this time the licensing and\nBen,\" to the knob of each door, and these were merrily jingling at in-\nregistering of boats over 16-feet long was required. A wartime fuel tax was\ntervals until the occupants got up and stopped them. Attached to each\nalso imposed, but there was no limit on the use of fuel on boats.\nclock was \"Presented by Mr. Klaxon of the Hyatt Roller Company.\"\nIn May of 1918, one of Ottawa Beach's notable citizens, \"Big Martin\"\nThe winter of 1918-1919 was the beginning of the end of the ice harvest\nWitteveen, died. He had come from the Netherlands in the late 1860's and set-\nfrom Black Lake. In January, 1919, the ice was only 5 inches thick, hardly\ntled at the mouth of Holland Harbor. He was involved in the building of the\nenough for cutting; and by February 20 the channel to Lake Michigan was open.\nfirst cottages, the hotel, and the adjoining docks. He served as custodian\nIn Holland the Superior Ice Company, which could manufacture 16 tons of ice\nof the hotel and the grounds. Besides considerable acreage, he also had a very\nper day, was able to provide for all the ice dealers. The Ottawa Beach Hotel,\nspecial 10-acre vineyard which, in season, drew great numbers of visitors.\nhowever, had to get its supply of ice from Grand Rapids.\nThe newspaper reported that \"He was big in heart, and big in person, and well\nknown and popular with the thousands of resorters who have known him for many\nFires continued to be a problem and in July, 1919, one of the many fires\nyears.'\nat Ottawa Beach occurred. The details, as reported in the newspaper, give us\na good idea of the life styles and the habits of the era.\nOne of the most disastrous fires in years destroyed four cottages\nat Ottawa Beach and nearly consumed a fifth Tuesday morning.\nThe fire started in the Sherwood-Hall Cottage in amongst the hills\nat 6:30 and soon communicated itself to several other cottages alongside.\nThe fire originated, it is said, from an oil stove that the maid had\nlighted, preparatory to getting breakfast ready for a family.\nAll Steel Garege-Hatel Otlawa\nThe famous arches on the veranda of the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nMurphy collection\nMurphy collection\n120\n121\nThe story goes that after the maid had lighted the fire she then\nWhen the alarm was given Bill pulled out, singlehanded, the hand\nreturned upstairs to complete her toilet, and upon returning found the\nreel filled with hose, connected this up with the Ottawa Beach waterworks\nstove and part of the kitchen in a blaze. Her cries brought the members\nhydrant nearby, and soon had a stream playing on the fire. It was impos-\nof the family and neighbors. Fire soon spread to the Wegusen cottage,\nsible to save the four cottages for these were closely nestled in to-\nE.N. Brown cottage, and the cottage of Joe Siegel, who are all Grand\ngether and it is doubtful if any kind of protection could have saved\nRapids people.\nthem. Murphy did save the cottages in close proximity, where repeatedly\nThe intense heat caused the fire to spread to the home of Charles\nsmall blazes started in the roof by heat and sparks from the burning\nSpringer. The loss to the buildings and furniture of more than $15,000\nbuildings.\nis only partially covered by insurance.\nAt no time was the big hotel in danger\nThe hills at Ottawa Beach are littered with furniture. Cottage\nowners all along the hill streets are dragging out the contents of their\nThe next month, at the annual meeting of the West Michigan Park Associa-\nhomes and depositing these out of possible reach of the flames. Joe Sie-\ntion, plans were put in place to have a local fire department. At the meeting\ngel of Grand Rapids, owner of a jewelry store, had planned to take his\nit was noted that every available cottage was being occupied. The Association\nemployees for a day's outing on Thursday.\nelected Howard F. Baxter, Fred Z. Pantlind, and Charles H. Springer as Direc-\nAn alarm was sent to Holland. The run was made in 15 minutes. The\ntors for the next year.\ncottages, however, are more than 2,000 feet from Black Lake and the fire\ntruck did not carry sufficient hose to reach that far.\nSwimming and bathing at Ottawa Beach came to a sudden end late in August,\nThe Coast Guards at Macatawa, as usual, did valiant service. Fran-\ncis Deto, Tony Vander Bie, Alvin Smith, and George Haas saved the Bunnel\n1919, when the lumber barge DELTA, with 400,000 feet of hardwood lumber, broke\ncottage through the aid of a bucket brigade.\ninto two parts just north of the Holland breakwater. The lumber drifted all\nJacob Witteveen, custodian of Ottawa Beach, also did excellent\nalong the shore, but it was thickest at Ottawa Beach where it was a serious\nhazard to water activity. The DELTA was finally torn apart to clear the area.\nwork, but the man of the hour was Bill Murphy, the Mayor of Ottawa Beach,\nwho not alone proved to be the chief executive of the summer resort but\nThere was a fire in the Annex to the Ottawa Beach Hotel in August, 1920.\nchief of police and chief of the fire department as well.\nThe story of this fire appeared in the newspaper and the facts, as presented,\nshow some of the firemen's problems.\nBILL SANDWICHES. MURPHY'S LUNCH ROOM\nCOFFEE\nAND\nSOFT\nDRINKS\nMURPHY\na-Cola\nA later photograph of Bill Murphy. Note his fishing houseboat at the end of\nCIGARS\nthe dock.\nMurphy collection\nBesides a lunch room, Bill Murphy had a boat livery and a bait and tackle shop.\nMurphy collection\n122\n123\nA large part of Holland motorists made flying trips to Ottawa Beach\nmany good people, but they also attracted many others. In 1921, Deputy Jacob\nat 9:30 last evening when news quickly spread that the big hotel, filled\nWitteveen had to protect a man, by arresting him, who had been molesting and\nwith guests, was all ablaze and Holland's aid was needed to put out the\npinching women in the ballroom of the hotel. A crowd of angry men was going\nfire.\nto assault the man when the deputy appeared on the scene.\nChief Blom received a phone message that the hotel was afire and\nto come as quickly as possible. He turned in an alarm from Box 21, Hotel\nMichigan fishing laws were frequently a problem for resorters. At times\nHolland corner, and the fire department was soon on hand to answer an\nthe rules for lakes open to Lake Michigan were different from rules for inland\nalarm in this section of the city. The chief then instructed some of\nlakes. In 1921, for example, there was no longer any limit on the number of\nthe firemen of Company 1 to man the big pumper and go immediately to\nperch that could be caught; but now a rule, that perch had to be at least 7\nOttawa Beach.\ninches long, came into effect. The newspaper stated that the \"application of\nIt took about 5 minutes to gas up sufficiently should the pumper\nthe 7-inch rule will practically stop the perch fishing in that lake.\"\nbe needed for any length of time.\nThe chief, before hopping off with the pumper, delegated Patrolman\nAugust, 1922, brought two tragedies to Ottawa Beach. One of the waiters,\nSteketee to follow with 500 feet of extra hose which the patrolman quick-\na \"colored boy\" named James Hudson, drowned while swimming. Although the Coast\nly did with the Citizens Transfer Company's truck.\nGuard recovered the body very quickly, the crew could not resuscitate him. The\nIt took the Holland department just 30 minutes to get to Ottawa\nsecond tragedy was the robbery of the safe at the hotel. Word of this did not\nBeach and start fighting the fire after the phone call was received.\ncome out very quickly because it was not discovered until guests, several days\nWhen Holland's force arrived they found that the blaze was in the attic\nlater, began to claim the jewelry they had left in storage.\nof the Annex which is some 500 feet from the main hotel and connected\nwith the hotel with a sort of a bridge.\nEarly in 1923 Jim Baker of Ottawa Beach purchased the winter fishing\nBill Murphy and his crew of excellent fire fighters were already\nbusiness (the rental of fishing shanties) from the Jesiek Brothers. All the\nbusy on the job and had the fire pretty well under control. The local\nshanties were taken to Ottawa Beach and were rented from that location. A sig-\nfiremen, however, aided with chemicals and between the two firefighting\nnificant real estate transaction took place in 1923 when the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nforces the blaze was soon extinguished.\nand its grounds, including the golf course and 600 acres of land with frontage\nOttawa Beach Hotel is filled with guests and these, with the guests\nfrom the other parts of the resorts and hundreds of automobile loads\nfrom Holland, made up a vast crowd.\nCity motorists impeded the speed of the big pumper as there was\na regular parade of automobiles from Holland going to Ottawa Beach, many\nof them trying to get around the truck in order to beat it there. At\none time there was a jam lasting about 5 minutes and the fire fighters\nsimply had to wait until the congestion was relieved.\nThe bad stretch of road just before coming to the turn to Ottawa\nBeach, dubbed the \"cinder path,\" also gave the driver of the pumper some\ntrouble and all these things certainly were not conducive to any speed\nmaking. Notwithstanding all these handicaps, the management of the hotel\nand the guests were loud in their praises of Holland's fire department.\nThe fire has damaged two of the rooms, part of the roof, and some\nbedding. The total loss will not exceed $500 and the damage will not\nin the least inconvenience the guests or the management of the hotel.\nTheft was another problem at the Ottawa Beach Hotel. In July, 1920, a\nnickel plated, six-volt Sireno horn was stolen from the automobile of Lewis\nHeath of Grand Rapids. Since this was really a siren, Heath wrote to the Coun-\nty Sheriff to say that it would be easy to identify. At the same time the West\nMichigan Park Association offered a $50 reward for information about the theft\nof the siren. Other thefts took place in the hotel itself; from time to time\nsheriff's deputies were called in to investigate thefts of jewelry.\nThe proprietors of the Hotel did what they could to attract business.\nIn the summer of 1921 they posted conspicuous yellow signs along the highway\nfrom Chicago all the way to the resort. One such sign, in front of Holland's\nTower Clock Building, said, \"Ottawa Beach 7 3/10 miles.\" These signs attracted\nThe automobiles of cottagers parked on the road below the hill\nMurphy collection\n124\n125\nBERALD\nAmerica' S veterans!\nby deeds\nNoble by birth yet nobler\non Lake Michigan, the channel, and on Black Lake were\nwere posted all along the West Michigan Pike from Chicago to Holland. A large\nigan Railway and the Graham & Morton Steamship Company. The purchasers, in-\nlighted billboard, 12 feet high by 30 feet wide, was also placed at the corner\ncluding Fred Z. Pantlind and George Getz, made immediate plans for improve-\nwhere Alpena Beach Road went west from the Pike. Great numbers of guests came\nment of the entire property, besides the usual remodeling and decorating. The\nconvention groups were welcomed. In June the naval veterans from the Fur-\ndevelopments included \"a large outside playground, a covered playground for\nand niture City Post of the American Legion came with 50 automobile loads of peo-\nrainy weather, a dancing pavilion, and a much larger garage, a cement road\nfrom the hotel to the beach, and an improved road from the hotel to connect\nple ators Association came; they were followed in August by the Ohio\nwith banners and streamers. In July the Michigan Master Painters Life and Insur- Decor-\nwith the main roads on the outside.\" At this time it was reported that the\nance Company. The season was so succesful that the hotel stayed open until\nresort still had \"about 300 building sites\" which could be opened to would\nthe middle of September.\nbe purchasers.\nA great improvement in the access to Ottawa Beach came in the summer\nThe new owners started with a policy of inviting the people of Holland\nof 1923 when the new concrete Alpena Beach Road was finally completed. Near of\nto come to Ottawa Beach to enjoy themselves. [Note: At this time the Interur-\nthe hotel itself a new concrete road followed a part of the right-of-way\nban railroad, which ran through the city of Holland, was still carrying its\nold railroad tracks. A larger parking area was provided on the grounds\npassengers to Macatawa, the competitor of Ottawa Beach.] The welcome to the\nof the the hotel. The entire resort had been laid out in days when automobiles\npeople of Holland included the use of the porches, the pier, the bathing beach,\nwere not known and no space had been provided for them.\ndancing pavilion, cafe, and any part of the grounds. It was at this time that\nthe Hotel Ottawa Company placed two thousand $100 par value shares of preferred\nof the attraction of Ottawa Beach was its nearness to Chicago which Beach\nstock on the market place. The directors of the company included such notables\nit Part practical for short yacht races to and from that city. The Ottawa arranged\nas G.J. Diekema, A.H. Landwehr, Charles R. Sligh, Wm. T. Bertles, Nat Robbins,\nmade Club, under the leadership of George Getz and Fred Pantlind, Besides the\nGeorge F. Getz, Robert Erwin and Ferry K. Heath.\nYacht massive Labor Day race and outing at Ottawa Beach in 1923. advertised water\nfor a classes of boat races, there was also a large, well Guard\nAn extensive advertising campaign accompanied the new ownership. Signs\ndifferent carnival. There was competitive swimming and diving, and the skills. U.S. Coast\narranged to provide a display of both its equipment and its\nIn the foreground are the Ottawa Beach tennis courts and dock. Across the chan-\nMurphy collection\nParking problems at the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nMurphy collection\nnel are the Coast Guard station and the lighthouse.\n127\n126\nThe Ottawa Beach Hotel truck in 1923\nReroofing the Annex in the summer of 1923. The Annex was also painted.\nCHIPP\nAn aerial view of Ottawa Beach and Chippewa Point in the summer of 1923\nThe Post Office at Ottawa Beach\nMurphy collection\nArchives, Hope College\nFORD\n128\n129\nChicago Yacht Club Day\n-AT-\nOTTAWA BEACH, SEPTEMBER 1st, 1923\nThe Milwaukee Yacht Club and the\nhotels in Western Michigan - that is the loss that Holland and the re-\nChicago Yacht Club had numbers of sailing\nsort region sustained late Tuesday afternoon when fire wiped out the\nyachts in the Labor Day race to Black\nbig Ottawa Beach Hotel. For it is a loss to Holland as well as to the\nLake. There were other races, all with\nresort. Ottawa Beach Hotel was a great asset to this city and during\nprizes of gold cups provided by Getz,\nthe past summer it had taken on a new life.\nHolland's fire department did valiant work in saving the other\nGold and Pantlind, for local sailboats\nbuildings at Ottawa Beach, and hundreds of automobiles went to the scene\nand speedboats. The swimming and beach\nof the fire on both sides of the bay. Volunteers from Holland helped\nevents, which were directed by Commodore\nthe firemen, and it was due to these factors that the fire was confined\nGeorge Getz, went on through the after-\nto the Hotel, the Hotel Annex, the hotel laundry and other buildings\nnoon with interruptions for the slowly\nimmediately connected with the hotel. So effective was the work of the\narriving sailboats which endured an al-\nfire fighters that even the pavilion, only a few paces away from the\nOFFICIAL PROGRAM\nmost windless day. One notable sailing\nnew addition, was saved, as was the dock building and the nearby Murphy\nyacht, the NAKOMIS, captained by Howard\nTHE FOLLOWING ENTERTAINMENT\nWetzel, came from Saugatuck flying a\nFOR THE DAY AND ENENING:\nresidence. The fire started about 5:15 o'clock, a short time after the last\npirate skull and bones with its bare-\nworkman, engaged in putting on the finishing touches to a magnificent\nOttawa Beach Yacht Club, Sail Boat Race on Lake Michigan, 10 a.m.\nchested crew standing on the rigging\n$15,000 dance hall addition, had left the hotel - placed in order only\nArrival of Chicago Yacht Club. Sailing and Power Boats, expected\nin full pirate regalia of white trousers,\nduring the forenoon, depending upon the weather.\nred sashes, and swords and cutlasses.\na few days ago for the opening of the next season.\nFinish of Race at outer Light House, Lake Michigan.\nThe first sign of the fire, a blaze so small that spectators be-\nThis ship received a great ovation from\nSpecial exhibition by the U.S. Coast Guards-2:30 m.\nlieved it might have been quenched with only a bucket of water, was dis-\nStarting at 1:30 p. m., the following events will be given in Iront of\nthe very large crowd and from the thou-\ncovered by Edwin Antisdel, clerk at the hotel for the past few summers.\nthe Ottawa Beach Hotel and in order as named below:\nsand \"jackies of the training ship WIL-\nHe said he was passing the main building, when he saw a burst of flames\n1. Fancy Diving\nMETTE.\" These \"jackies\" entered into\n2 Boys Swimming-50 yards\ninside. Before he was able to call for aid and dash toward the building,\nthe spirit of the day with many individ-\n3. Cirls\nthe fire had started its work of destruction and within ten minutes the\nuals participating in the day's events.\n4. Men\n100\nThe prizes for individual events were\nbuilding was doomed.\n5. Surf Board Riding\nDespite valiant cohorts of a hundred volunteers aided by a crew\n6. Johnson's Water Bug Ball [given under auspices of Corner\n$5 gold pieces.\nof Holland firemen and members of the Coast Guard crew in the harbor,\nHardware, Holland).\n7. Mystery Swimming Race [Men only)\nthe fire quickly passed along a hall extending to the hotel annex, and\nIn the early evening there was a\n& Canoe Race-1 mile straight away [2 Boys to Canoe]\nattacked the hotel laundry, a two story building equipped with rooms\ndinner at the hotel at which over 900\n9. Evenrude-Single Motor-and out board 1 Man to Boat\nfor girl employees, the cooks' quarters which contained 22 rooms, the\n10. Evenrude-Double\nmile 8 return)\nguests were served. Later in the evening,\n11. High Power Speed Boats\nafter the fireworks from a SCOW on Black\nkitchens, two storage buildings, and a small garage.\nThe fire originated either in the hotel barber shop or manicuring\n12 Apple Swimming Race\nLake, there was a dance in the well-\n13. Water Melon Race-Motor Boats-[Evenrude or Out-Board\ndecorated Ottawa Beach Hotel. In the\nparlor near the center of the main building. The cause may never be de- of\n[2 Boat)\ntermined. The only theory advanced by Fred Z. Pantlind, president\n14. Melon Race-Canoes [2 to Canoe)\nmorning the yachtsmen were first enter-\nthe Ottawa Beach Hotel Company, who was the first officer of the company\n15. Punting Contest from Boats\ntained on the Gold houseboat and home;\non the ground, was that defective wiring had caused the blaze.\n16. Tub Race-Boys\nlater in the afternoon they went to the\nAntisdel, upon seeing the flames, called Mrs. William Murphy, wife\n17. Motor Boat Race [Evenrude or Out-Board]\nGetz summer home to see his farm and\n18. Sailing Boat Race-Black Lake\nof the custodian, who lives in a cottage nearby, and she immediately\nZOO.\n19. Greased Pole Climbing-open to all\ncalled to Holland for aid. A hurriedly organized crew of volunteers began\n20. Pillow Fight-open to all.\nfirefighting operations against hopeless odds, despite the hotel's elab-\nThe success of this first water\nFIRE WORKS-8:30\norate fire equipment, including 1,600 feet of hose and a tank constructed hotel\ncarnival of the Ottawa Beach Yacht Club\nIn event of rain the various events (except the Chicago Yacht\n(which used the Getz boathouse as its\nto provide sufficient pressure to send water to every part of the\nSailing) will be postponed. Same place and time, Monday, Sept.\n3rd (Labor Day].\nheadquarters) led George Getz to say,\ngrounds. The water tank was drained a few days ago when the custodian left\nOTTAWA BEACH YACHT CLUB.\n\"This year is only a start - watch us\ndeer hunting trip to northern Michigan, and in consequence water,\nnext year!\" The entire holiday enterprise\nwhich on a might have saved the Annex and some of the smaller buildings from\nreflected the enterprise, skills and talents of the leaders of the Ottawa Beach\ndestruction, was lacking. Usually the tank was not drained until freezing\nHotel which, obviously, was well advertised in affluent yachting circles.\nweather set in.\nA brisk wind, sweeping down the lake shore from the northwest,\nOn Tuesday, November 6, 1923, the hotel at Ottawa Beach burned. The story\nfanned the flames, and with the hotel and its contents doomed, the fire-\nwas well reported in the local newspapers. The following are segments of the\nconcentrated their efforts to save the Murphy cottage, the boat cot-\nstories as reported in the Holland City News:\nfighters tage of Mrs. Boyd Pantlind nearby, the store and post office, the\nA half million dollar fire and the loss of one of the finest resort\nhouses, the resort garage and the docks.\n131\n130\nLIBRARY\nThe Pantlind and Murphy cottges and about 75 others on the slope\nabove the hotel would have been doomed, but for the direction of the\nwind and the heroic efforts of the volunteers. Recent reshingling of\nthe dock buildings and the store in the path of the flames, probably\naverted their destruction, new roofing forming a protection against the\nfalling embers.\nPlans for rebuilding the hotel will be discussed Thursday at a\nmeeting of the officers of the company in the Hotel Pantlind in Grand\nRapids according to Fred 2. Pantlind, President of the company\nHe\nestimated the hotel could not be replaced under the present building\nconditions for less than $750,000. Insurance approximating $300,000 was\ncarried on the hotel property, but this included docks and boathouses\nthat were not damaged.\nIn another story the newspaper reported:\nCharles Jackson of Lakewood Farm deserves a great deal of credit\nin helping to prevent confusion among those who offered their services\nto fight the fire at Ottawa Beach Tuesday night. Mr. Jackson took it\nupon himself to direct the work and his expert knowledge of the place\nand its equipment stood the fire fighters in good stead. He superintend-\ned the laying of the plank road to the water's edge on which the pumper\ncould run and he directed the men who formed the bucket brigade to put\nA view northwards from the dock across the ashes of the Ottawa Beach Hotel.\nout the miniature fires on the docks. He brought a truckload of hose\nThe cottages are on the hillside facing Black Lake.\nMurphy collection\nfrom Lakewood Farm to help in the work. Fourteen hundred feet of hose\nof the Holland Fire Department was used, as well as a considerable length\nof hose belonging to the Ottawa Beach Association, which was coupled\non to the Holland hose.\nLooking west along the ruins of the Ottawa Beach Hotel. It was built on the\nThe ruins of the Ottawa Beach Hotel which burned on November 6, 1923\nseries of concrete pilings.\nMurphy collection\nVan Ark collection\n132\n133\nTo those who went to Ottawa Beach, Macatawa Park and Jenison Park\nThe next difficulty was to get the suction hose laid so that it\non Tuesday night to watch the big fire it appeared as if every person\nwould not suck sand from the bottom of the lake and thus clog the pipe.\nin Holland who has a car was there. There are no statistics or even esti-\nSome of the firemen took off their shoes and stockings, rolled up their\nmates as to how many cars went to the scene of the fire, but there has\ntrousers, and went into the water to build a platform of boards on which\nseldom been a celebration when more automobiles were parked at the var-\nto lay the hose\nious resorts. The scene was the same on both sides of the lake. Every\nAll the gasoline supply tanks at Ottawa Beach were drained\navailable inch of space was taken by a car and the traffic jams were\nto supply the big pumper with enough fuel, and in addition to that a\nat times serious. Some people were compelled to walk a long distance\nsupply was sent from Macatawa Park.\nbeing unable to get near the usual parking space and being compelled\nto leave their cars along the roadside.\nIt was due to the quick work of a group of Holland men on their\nway to the Ottawa Beach fire that the cottages on the south side of the\nThe Holland Fire Department made the run to the Ottawa Beach fire\nbay at Virginia Park were saved from destruction. A blazing piece of\nin 20 minutes Tuesday night. When the alarm was turned in and the call\nmaterial had been blown across the water and had started a blaze in the\nfor help came from Ottawa Beach, the big pumper was immediately manned\nboat house of Dan Steketee. The Holland men, passing by on their way\nand it was rushed to the scene of the blaze without the loss of a minute.\nto Jenison Park, saw the blaze and stopped to put it out.\nEvery ounce of determination of the firemen was put back of the job and\nThe fire had obtained a hold at the base of the boat house and\nthe firemen fought from the first to last with all the energy at their\nit looked as if it would be impossible to get at it. Moreover, the Hol-\ncommand.\nland men had no pails or axes or other implements with which to fight\nThe first difficulty encountered was to get the heavy pumper from\nthe blaze. They borrowed some things and broke into other empty cottages\nthe concrete road at Ottawa Beach to the water's edge so that the sucker\nto get the necessary equipment for dipping up water. With the aid of\ncould be put into the lake. A road of heavy planks had to be laid, and\naxes they broke into the boat house and were finally able to get the\nthe firemen and a large number of volunteers took part in the work. It\nfire under control.\ntook but a short time when the work had once been begun.\nAfter the Ottawa Beach Hotel burned, area residents wanted to see the\nruins. The most conspicuous relic was the massive brick chimney, but that too,\nfor safety reasons, had to be demolished. The sightseers went out on Alpena\nBeach Road, a very narrow highway which was only a single lane of concrete\nat places; during the day cars were lined up for several hours. One man made\na report that it took three hours to drive to the beach and return to Holland.\nThe burning of the hotel necessitated many decisions by diverse groups.\nThe owners had to decide on a building program, but they sensed that the in-\nvestment of great sums into a hotel with a limited season was not really a\ngood investment. In March, 1924, grandiose plans were made for a large club\nhouse to be built at the edge of the sand hill where the Annex had stood. This\nclub house would have a great hall, 35 by 80 feet, and would face Black Lake\nat one end and Lake Michigan at the other end. A residential wing of 40 to\n60 rooms was also part of the plan. In August still other plans were made for\nrebuilding at Ottawa Beach.\nOne of the problems inherent in any rebuilding program was to have a\nclear title to the property. When the hotel was moved in 1895, it was moved\nto a site originally platted as a park by the Association. Since the title\nwas not cleared for individual ownership, it was not prudent to invest in de-\nvelopments. There has never been any building on the site of the Annex or of\nthe Hotel.\nThe Interurban railroad, which ran on the south shore of Black Lake,\nhad its own ferryboat, the OTTAWA, which had carried passengers from Jenison\nPark to Ottawa Beach since 1915. After the hotel fire there was no longer a\nneed for this ferry boat, and it was sold to the Cleveland Cliffs Company for\nservice on Lake Superior.\nThe ruins of the Ottawa Beach Hotel Annex as seen from the veranda of the Pant-\nlind Cottage. Some of the concrete pilings were still on the hillside in 1986.\nMurphy collection\n134\n135\nOn December 17, 1925, the newspaper headline read: STATE PARK BOARD AC-\ncame to Camp Keewano Wohelo in July, 1927. The camp was used by the Campfire\nCEPTS THE OTTAWA BEACH SITE. This news was a surprise to Holland residents;\nGirls for many decades. In very recent years the Spyglass Condominiums have\nit so happened that Fred Z. Pantlind was a member of the State Park Board,\nbeen built on this site.\nand he had encouraged the Board to buy the beach property. The newspaper pro-\nphetically stated:\nPart of the normal activity at the Hotel Ottawa was the nine hole golf\ncourse. After the hotel burned, the golf course, which ranged up and down the\nThe Ottawa Beach State Park bids fair, within a year or two, to\ndunes (at the present site of the Macatawa Camp Ground), continued to attract\nbecome one of the most popular spots in this section of the state and\narea golfers. It had its own club house and its own officers. The caddies con-\nwill become a recreation spot for people from all parts of this and many\ntinued to have their annual tournament as late as 1926 when Gerrit Hoving,\nother states.\nRichard Baker, Andrew Witteveen, and Jack Woodall won prizes.\nMany plans were made in 1926 for the development of this park. The Ot-\nIn the 1920's Maurice Collins and Elton Cobb were both caddies at this\ntawa County Board of Supervisors authorized and began planning 3½ miles of\ncourse; the 'pro' was M.G. 'Mitt' West whose wife was also involved in the\nnew roadway to Waukazoo, to Big Bay, and to the State Park. Later it was an-\nclubhouse. On summer evenings, A.H. Landwehr of the Holland Furnace Company,\nnounced that the Road Commission would use the grade and roadbed of the Pere\nas well as his brothers and cronies, often came to the beach for a round of\nMarquette line to Ottawa Beach. The rails and most of the ties were long gone,\ngolf. When they came to the 7th hole, which was up the hill and then beyond\nbut the grade was well preserved and the \"new road will make for a pleasant\nthe crest of the hill, the men would send the caddies to the top to observe\ndrive since it will be laid through the dense woods of Waukazoo, while the\nthe golf balls as they were driven. The caddies would, if the ball was reason-\nlast 21/2 miles of it will skirt Macatawa Bay. Although highway plans were de-\nably close to the hole, call down, \"It's in!\" Then they would go to the hole\nveloped, the cement for this construction did not arrive until May, 1927, when\n(the men being slow to climb the hill) and place the ball in the cup. [Note:\nit came on the SAMUEL L. MITCHELL.\nCollins reports that there was frequently a cash tip when this occurred.]\nPantlind's Ottawa Beach Resort Company also planned its own improvements\nOne of Holland's long forgotten authors, Rev. John M. Vander Meulen,\nin the area with a swimming pool, a dance pavilion, lighting, water, etc.,\nwrote a book about Christians and golfing called Getting Out of The Rough in\nbut once again, the dreams did not mature.\nwhich he describes one of the boorish foursomes which he met at the Ottawa\nBeach Golf Course. He used their boorishness as a basis for a speech at the\nOne unique development on the dunes was sponsored by the Grand Rapids\ndedication of the Holland Country Club the next day.\nunit of the Campfire Girls which acquired the duneland and beach just north\nof Ottawa Beach. They immediately built an extensive resort in 1926 which\ncould, in the course of a summer, accommodate thousands of campers. The 21\nacres of land was purchased for $20,000; Holland's Bolhuis Lumber Company con-\ntracted the erection of the necessary buildings. The kitchen, dining hall,\nand officer's quarters were permanent buildings, but 25 tents, with solid wood\nfloors and partial walls, were erected for the campers. The first 95 campers\nBLUE\nBIRDS\nNEST\nCAMP\nKEEWANO\nHOLLAND\nMICH\nThe Post Office building was scorched by the Ottawa Beach Hotel fire.\nMurphy collection\n137\n136\nOTTAWA BEACH AND HOLLAND STATE PARK 1927 - 1946\nIn the summer of 1927, Alpena Beach Road was extended to the east of\nU.S. 31 (River Avenue), the concrete road to Waukazoo from Alpena Beach Road\nwas being built, and the road along the old rail bed (Ottawa Beach Road) was\nbeing developed. In July, 1927, the State released $30,000 for necessary im-\nprovements at the new 32-acre state Park; however, by that time it was too\nlate to have any effect on the park for that season. The money was spent on\ncamping and sanitary facilities. A 90 room bathhouse already on the property\nwas donated to the state by Fred Pantlind and this was remodeled.\nThere was no blaring of trumpets nor assemblies of politicians when Hol-\nland State Park opened in 1928. There is, in fact, little mention of the event\nin the local newspaper. An early report tells of the teachers of Washington\nSchool going there for a beach party the day before Decoration Day in 1928.\nGreat numbers of visitors came to the beach on the Fourth of July but the num-\nbers given, 60,000, were for both the Grand Haven and Holland State Parks.\nThe State Park was a success from the time it opened. The fact that there\nwere good roads to the park, and that there was an oval around which people\ncould drive to see the lake, the beach, and the lighthouse was pleasureable.\nVisitors could park for long periods of time for fishing, bathing, and for\npicnicking, and that too made for great numbers of visitors. In the summer\na water slide and several land slides were placed along the beach for the plea-\nsure of the children. People came to the State Park from the immediate area,\nbut many families came from Grand Rapids and from even further away.\nIn 1930 state funds were allocated for park improvements and plans were\nconsidered for extending the oval to the north and to the east where there\nwas undeveloped land. Because $3,450 did not go very far, no improvements were\nmade. The next year there was much local agitation to get an enlarged oval.\nA committee was sent to Lansing to see what could be done, but the State, be-\ncause of the Great Depression, had cut the total budget of all the state parks\nfrom $415,000 to $86,000. With such a drastic reduction of funds, no improve-\nments could be considered at any of the state parks.\nIn those depression days people could and did camp at the State Park\neven though there were severe restrictions. At most state parks the limit for\ncamping was 15 days, but at Ottawa Beach the limit was only 7 days because\nthe park was so crowded and so busy. The newspaper reported:\nLast year there was altogether too much congestion at the Oval\nfor comfort, but this year it is even beyond congestion and has become\na stampede.\nThe attendance reports for those early years show 1929, over 631,000\nRelics of the Ottawa Beach Hotel\nDoust collection\n138\n139"
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