History of Campbell Park, Pentwater, & Vicinity, Michigan

This web page is an historical timeline centered on the Village of Pentwater, Michigan (USA), whose settlement began in 1853. The events presented below were chosen to illustrate several different but interrelatred threads: Lake Michigan, local & regional history, local landmarks, history of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Campbell Park (a summer colony founded in 1907) & the history of some Campbell Park families.

Click here for a gallery of many beautiful photos taken in & around Pentwater by various photographers.
Click here for "Pentwater" by George Alexander Campbell, last chapter of his autobiography "Friends Are My Story," 1944.
Click here for "They Walked on Singing Sands" by Georgia May Campbell Lollis, 1949.
Click here to see the Campbell Park centennial essay "My Mother & Pentwater" (in Word format), 2007.

	1600's	1700's	1800-1849	1850-1874	1875-1899	1900-1924	1925-1949	1950-1974	1975-1999	2000-Today
Nature	Shifting sand Growing forests			Wolves Bears 71-Wildfires 74-Passenger Pigeons		13-Big Blow	32-Washout 36-Lamprey 38-Seiche 40-Armistice Day Storm	51-High water 64-Low water Eurasian milfoil 67-Alewife	79-Lake freezes 80s-Goby 86-River floods 88-Zebra mussel	01-Low water Cormorants
Explorers, Government & Wars	34-Nicolet 75-Marquette 79-LaSalle	76-Declaration 81-Spanish 83-Treaty of Paris	03-FtDearborn 12-War of 1812 31-Oceana Cty 37-Michigan 40-Notipekago	53-Middlesex 55-Township 56-Post Office 61-Civil War 67-Life Saving 67-Village 72-Fire Dept	98-Spanish American War	17-World War I	41-World War II	50-Korean War		01-Afganistan 03-Iraq
Native Americans	1st European contact	c25-Massacre 63-Pontiac 69-Black Dog	36-Treaty of Washington	57-Camp on Pentwater Lake Custer Reservtn	90 Census-271 in Oceana County	Sell baskets & berries	41-Book "Paddle to the Sea"		99-Little River Casino
Transpor- tation	Footpaths Canoes 1st sailboat		17-1st stmship 25-Erie Canal 29-Welland Canal	50s-Channel 58-Ferry 67-BPS lighthse 72-Railroad 74-LPS lighthse	Ludington boat 96-RR car ferries	Last schooners	24-Ludington lthse 25-Railroad ends 26-Channel bridge 26-US-31	50s-No bridge 53-Badger 59-Seaway By-pass hiway	Freeway 92-Badger returns	01-Wave absorbers
Buildings			47-Caswell Hse	53-Cobb Hse 55-Sawmill 62-Red Barn 67-MethChurch 68-CathChurch 68-AbbeyHse 70-HexagonHse 70-BrassAnchor 72-RR station	c83-Village Hall 80s-Blond bldgs 91-WhiteElephant 95-BaptistChurch	14-Nickerson Inn 17-McVoyCottage	Theater Bandstand? Yacht Club		Hancock Bldg Condos	Lite's Cottages
Industry			Pelts Fur trade	55-Lumber Shingles Cooperage Barreled fish	83-Bricks <90-Bedsteads <98-Furniture 98-Bortell's fish	Gillnet fishing 01-Fruit Canning 02-Cement(Baldwn)	25-Hart Lk hydro c41-Lenart Arcrft c50-Oil field	Rapid Titan 56-Wire Products 69-Pumped storage hydro		Wind power?
Tourism			39-Pocket Map of Michigan		Bathhouse Imus House 82-"Healthy for Invalids & Tourists"	Verbeck Tavern Clendee Hotel 13-Boosters Club 14-Nickerson Inn 19-SilverLk St Park 20-Mears St Park	30-Dune Rides Jensens Bakery 35-Yacht Club 35-Natl Forest 41-Main Event 48-Ludington House of Flavors	Snug Harbor Marina AJ's Family Fun Center	SportFishing 76-White Pine Village 91-RailTrail 99-Casino	Comfort Inn Info Plaques
Unforgettable Characters				38-Ossawald Crumb 53-Charles Mears	76-Justus Stearns 95-Carrie Mears	03-Ed Ames 07-CC Morrison 13-Swift Lathers	Esther Dempsey Max Corey 30-Mac Wood	Mr Webb Mr Epworth	Glass Blower
Fire Disasters				56-Cobb & Rector mill 71-Chicago fire 72-Shingle mill	75-MethChurch 89-Hancock St 93-BaptistChurch 94-Nickerson & Collister Mill 98-Furniture fac	20-Sands & Maxwell store	27-WhiteElephant 41-Topping Cottg			05-Deerwood 06-NickersonInn 07-GarrisonPark
Water Disasters	1679-Griffin			54-Canoe 78-US Grant		10-Barge Kellogg 12-Two Brothers	40-Minch 40-Novadoc 46-Tug Pal	65-Comanche
Summer Colonies					<90-Oceana Bch 94-Epworth Hts	c02-N.Beach Assn 04-Garrison Park 07-Campbell Park 12-Idlewild Resort 15-Bass Lake 24-Chautauqua ends	25-CampArcadia 28-Interlochen Arts Center c44-NBA dining hall closes	60-Campbell Park Road	75-NCBA
Disciples of Christ History		63-T.Campbell born in Ireland 77-B.Stone b. in Maryland	01-GreatRevival 09-Dec/Address 32-Merger 40-Bethany Col 49-Cincinatti	50-Canadian Baptists 66-Christian Standard(Ohio)	81-Drake Univ 84-Oracle (Iowa) 93-Parliament 94-UCDivinityHse 96-Campbell Inst	00-ChristianCentury 06-Formal split 08-CC Morrison 09-Pittsburgh 10-Edinburgh 14-Board of Pub 20-United Ch Msn Soc	25-Stockholm 30-Leeds(Englnd) 32-Indianapolis 33-Pittsburgh 37-World Council Disc Hist Society 43-San Jose 49-Morrison Plan	68-Restructure		11-Nashville Convention
Pentwater Lore (Books, Manuscripts)				61-Oceana Times newspr	90-"Pioneers & Business Men"	13-Mears Newz	41-WPA Guide 42-Schrumpf 44-"Pentwater" 49-Singing Sands	57-Campbell Park (50 yrs)	c80-"Mom's Book" 81-North BeachAssn 96-"Built on Sand" 99-Garrison Park	02-Time Forgot 03-Shipwrecks 03-JamesO'Brien 07-Campbell Park (100 yrs) 07-Royce 08-Fire Threat 09-Spcl Places 09-Pagoda Drmr 11-Swimng Solo 11-ThisWebpage
Pentwater Authors (21 Books)						06-Christian Union 17-Our Bible 18-England & Germany	26-Christ theWay 28-Aesthetics 31-War 1914 31-Chores/Altar 37-Proust/Santyna 42-Christian&War 44-Friends/Story 47-Andre Gide	59-Beyond Theology 60-Future of History 61-Japan/Zen 62-Zen/Amrca 66-Willett ms	70-Prayers/ Meditations 71-Notable Am Women 78-Simple Things	05-Return to Pentwater 11-Swimming Solo
	1600's	1700's	1800-1849	1850-1874	1875-1899	1900-1924	1925-1949	1950-1974	1975-1999	2000-Today

09-Pagoda Dreamer by Judith March Davis

11- Swimming Solo by Susan Rava

E X P L O R E R 1634 - Jean Nicolet [1598-1642] and seven Indian paddlers "discover" Lake Michigan and visit what is now Wisconsin. Expecting he has arrived in China, Nicolet carries two pistols and wears an embroidered robe of Chinese damask "all strewn with flowers and birds of many colors."

E X P L O R E R 1675 (May 18) - Pere Jacques Marquette [1637-1675], French missionary and explorer, dies on the Lake Michigan shore after exploring the Mississippi River. A tall cross will be erected in 1955 on a small dune near Ludington where Marquette's canoe landed and his death is believed to have taken place.

E X P L O R E R 1679 - René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle [1643-1687] builds the first ship to sail on the Great Lakes (the Griffon) and sails into Lake Michigan as far as Green Bay, Wisconsin. He sends the ship back to Michillimakinac (filled with furs that he acquired illegally) and proceeds without the ship to build Fort St. Joseph (1679) at present-day Niles, Michigan, and Fort Crevecœur (1680) in the village of Pimiteoui, near present-day Peoria, Illinois.

M A P 1718 - "Partie du Canada ou Nouvelle France" by Guillaume de L'Isle [1675-1726], Paris (France). Shows more than a dozen rivers in western Michigan & names R. Marquette. Shows Missilimakinac in north and & all three portages to the Mississippi River system -- Chicagou (Fort Dearborn, Illinois), St. Joseph (South Bend, Indiana) & Wabash (Fort Wayne, Indiana).

I N D I A N S 1720 (about) - Pontiac (or Ponteach) [c1720-1769] is born in what is now the state of Ohio. He will become chief of the Ottawa tribe & the principal leader of one of the greatest Native American alliances (& the brand name of a GM automobile).

I N D I A N S 1725 (about) - A band of peaceful Mascoutens is massacred by Ottawas and/or Potawotamis on the river near what is now Custer in Mason County, Michigan. Years later, the slain Indians' skulls will be mounted on poles, and the river will become known as Notipekago (river with heads on sticks). Much later, it will be renamed the Pere Marquette River. Text of historical marker at Custer bridge: ""NOTIPEKAGO - Ottawa oral tradition tells of a war between the Ottawa and Mascouten tribes in the seventeenth century. The defeat of the Mascouten allowed for the permanent Ottawa settlement in lower Michigan. One battle took place in the Custer vicinity along the Pere Marquette River. Many years later, erosion exposed the buried remain of those from both tribes who died here. Indians placed many of the skulls along the riverbank. The battle site became known as Notipekago -- the place of the skulls. This story holds an enduring place in Ottawa oral tradition."

1761 - Chief Pontiac embraces a movement started by Eastern Indians to reject the white man's culture and derives a plan to drive out English settlers.

1763 - French settlements at the Northern end of Lake Michigan are taken over by the British.

1763 (April) - A Great Council of Indians is held near Detroit. Chief Pontiac will lead attacks in May, and all British forts in the region will be captured except Fort Detroit & Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

1766 (April) - Chief Pontiac admits defeat & helps the British subdue remaining bands of warring Indians. He will sign a peace treaty with the British at Detroit on August 17.

1769 (April 20) - Chief Pontiac is murdered by Black Dog, a Peoria (or Illinois) Indian said to be paid by the British, in Kahokia, a town on the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis. The Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Sac & Fox tribes will unite against the Peoria in retaliation for the murder.

C O N Q U E S T 1781 - A Spanish expedition captures Fort St. Joseph at Niles, Michigan, in retaliation for the capture of the Spanish fort at St. Louis on the Mississippi River. West Michigan will remain for a year -- at least theoretically -- under the flag of Spain. Image shows monument marking the site of Fort St. Joseph near Niles.

1783 - Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution cedes Michigan territory to the US, but the British will remain until 1796.

P A I N T

About 1783 - "Peace of Paris, 1783", Diplomatic Reception Rooms (Top Floor), US Department of State, Washington, DC (USA). Shows American delegation at the Treaty of Paris: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens [1724-1792], and William Temple Franklin [1760-1823]. By Benjamin West [1738-1820]. The British delegation refused to pose, and the painting was never completed. (The preliminary articles, signed in Paris on November 30, 1782, were only effective when a similar treaty was signed by Britain and France, which French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes [1717-1787], quickly negotiated. France signed preliminary articles of peace with Great Britain on January 20, 1783, which were followed by a formal Peace of Paris signed on September 3, 1783.)

C H U R C H

1801 (August) - Barton Warren Stone [1772-1844] preaches to more than 20,000 people attending "The Great Revival" at his Cane Ridge Ridge Meeting House in Paris, Kentucky (near Lexington). This will be considered the "Second Great Awakening," and Stone will become a founder of the Stone-Campbell Movement (also known as the Restoriation Movement). One of Campbell Park's "streets" will be named for him in 1907. About 1915, George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] will come across the neglected grave of the second Mrs. Barton Stone in Hannibal, Missouri.

F O R T

1803 - Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Beside the Chicago River (near the portage beween Lake Michigan & the Mississippi River system). "Constructed by US troops under Captain John Whistler & named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then US Secretary of War. Original fort destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn in 1812. A new fort constructed on the same site in 1816 & de-commissioned by 1837. Parts of the fort were lost to the widening of the Chicago River in 1855 & a fire in 1857. Last vestiges were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871." /// Image is a 1856 drawing showing the fort as it appeared in 1831.

1805 (June 1) - "A New Map of Part of the United States of North America" by John Cary of London names the Mastigon (Muskegon), White, Rock, Beauvau, Margurite & Monistic (Manistee) Rivers but omits the names Notipekago & Pentwater. The nearest town is Ft. Joseph (present day Niles, Michigan).

C H U R C H

1809 (September) - Thomas Campbell [1763-1854] withdraws from the Seceder Presbyterian church in Western Pennsylvania and issues a "Declaration and Address" creating the Christian Association of Washington County. In future years, this will be celebrated as the beginning of the Disciples of Christ, the largest "denomination" ever created in the Western Hemisphere.  Thomas' son Alexander Campbell [1788-1866] will move to nearby Virginia (now Bethany, West Virginia) in 1811 & carry on the church work his father began. He will help found Bethany Church in 1829 & Bethany College in 1840. Campbell Park founder George Alexander Campbell will be partially named for Alexander Campbell in 1869.  Campbell Park will be named for Thomas Campbell -- or Alexander Campbell -- or both -- in 1907.

C O N Q U E S T 1812 (August 16) - British capture Fort Mackinac at the top of Lake Michigan. "Fort Mackinac was founded during the American Revolution. Believing Fort Michilimackinac at what is now Mackinaw City was too vulnerable to American attack, the British moved the fort to Mackinac Island in 1780. Americans took control in 1796. In July 1812, in the first land engagement of the War of 1812 in the United States, the British captured the fort. In a bloody battle in 1814 the Americans attempted but failed to retake the fort. It was returned to the US after the war. The fort remained active until 1895."

1813 - British retreat from Michigan to Canada after US victories on Lake Erie & on the Thames River in Upper Canada (Ontario). (The grandparents and parents of Campbell Park founder George Alexander Campbell will settle near the Thames River in 1830 and 1831.)

S T E A M S H I P About 1816 - Steamship "Walk in Water," built in Buffalo, New York, is the first steamship on Lake Erie. Picture circa 1816.

F U R

1827 - American Fur Company (AFC) of John Jacob Astor [1763-1848] has 20 trading posts in Western Michigan, and an independent trader Louis Campau [1791-1871] has six posts, including Muskegon & Manistee.  In succeeding years, the focus of the American fur industry will move from the Great Lakes to the Far West. /// Left image shows AFC store on Macinac Island. For a time, the Mackinac State Historic Parks used this building as a memorial to post surgeon Dr. William Beaumont who wrote the book on the digestion system of the human body. Today, it's a musuem to the fur trade which made Mackinac Island the seat of the Northwest Territory." /// Right image depicts Indians trading with the AFC in 1841.

C A N A L 1825 - Opening of the Erie Canal in New York state, new land laws & Native American concessions lead the way to the rapid settlement of Michigan.

C A N A L 1829 - Welland Canal is completed around Niagara Falls, permitting ocean-going vessels to enter the upper Great Lakes for the first time. In the years to come, over 140 exotic species of animals & plants will gain access to the lakes via the canal, including the sea lamprey and alewife.

C O U N T Y 1831 - Oceana County is laid out & named by the Michigan Territorial Legislature. The boundaries will shift before the county is settled about 1853. Map shows boundaries since settlement. "County is thought to be named for Lake Michigan, a freshwater 'ocean.' However, there is an opposing viewpoint which holds that it was named for "The Commonwealth of Oceana," a controversial book written by English politician & essayist James Harrington in 1656." The City of Hart will become county seat. Pentwater has the county's only harbor.

M A P 1833 (April 1) - Map of "The North West And Michigan Territories" by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in London (England) names the Maskegon (Muskegon), White, Pentwater & Manistic (Manistee) Rivers but omits the names Notipekago & Pere Marquette.  The nearest town is Niles, and the nearest country is Van Buren on the Pawpaw River.  This is the earliest use of the name Pentwater I've ever seen; can anyone cite an earlier use?

1837 (January 26) - Michigan becomes the 26th state by Act of the US Congress.

S E T T L E M E N T S 1837 - Charles Mears [1814-1895] "builds his first lumber mill on White Lake. Mears will plat the village of Whitehall along with Giles B. Slocum around 1859. It was originally named 'Mears' which in 1862 was renamed to 'Whitehall' because of its association with nearby White Lake. The town is a strategic location for floating & distributing lumber to Lake Michigan. Mears will also build sawmills in the Ludington area in settlements then called Little Sauble (1851) & Big Sable (1854). These two settlements were later renamed by Mears to Lincoln & Hamlin in 1861 in honor of the successful Republican Presidential ticket." Image shows Lincoln in 1861.

M A P 1839 - Tourist's Pocket Map of Michigan by S. Augustus Mitchell map publishers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Note eastern shore of Lake Michigan is practically a straight line.

1840 (April 1) - Notipekago County is "set off" on the Notipekago (Pere Marquette) River. Three years later, its name will be changed to Mason County in memory of Stevens Thompson Mason [1811-1843], Michigan's first (& youngest) governor from 1834 to 1840.

A T L A S

1846 - Atlas of the USA shows all counties in Michigan but not yet in Wisconsin.

H O U S E

1847 - Burr Caswell [1807-1896] builds the first house in Mason County, Michigan. The house will become the first court house in 1855. It is now part of the White Pine Village museum between Pentwater & Ludington. The museum hosts the Mason County Historical Society.

1849 - Land in Pentwater & Whiskey Creek is purchased by Oceana County's first European settlers. Pentwater's first settler will not arrive until 1853.

C H U R C H 1849 (October) - "The first National Convention [of the Stone-Campbell Movement] is held at Cincinnati, Ohio. Alexander Campbell [1788-1866] has concerns that holding conventions would lead the movement into divisive denominationalism. He does not attend the gathering. Among its actions, the convention elects Alexander Campbell its President & creates the American Christian Missionary Society (ACMS)."

1849 (October) - American Christian Missionary Society (ACMS) is established in Cincinnati. "This, along with the introduction of instrumental music in worship, created a furor that ultimately divided our brotherhood. Those who accepted these innovations came to be the Christian Churches and Disciples of Christ. Observation tells us that most of our brethren, including our preachers, have no idea what the Missionary Society was and why our brethren rejected it. A look at the founding documents provides an idea of the nature and purpose of the Society. Those assembled at Cincinnati adopted the following resolution: "Resolved, that the 'Missionary Society,' as a means to concentrate and disperse the wealth and benevolence of the brethren of this Reformation in an effort to convert the world, is both scriptural and expedient."

1850 - Scottish Baptists in Ontario (Canada) decide to call themselves Disciples of Christ as they come under the increasing influence of Thomas & Alexander Campbell in the USA. One of the elders taking this decision is Dugald Sinclair [1777-1870] who led many members of his church in Lochgilphead, Scotland, to Ontario in 1831. This group included the Jameson grandparents & mother of Campbell Park founder George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943].

1853 - First buildings are constructed by E.R. Cobb & Andrew Rector in what is now Pentwater: A boarding house near the current water tower & a lumber mill also near the south end of Hancock Street. "The founders of Pentwater are E.R. Cobb & Andrew Rector. In 1853 they built two buildings - a boarding house near the current water tower and a lumber mill, both on the south end of Hancock Street."

C A N A L 1855 (May) - Soo Locks, Sault Saint Marie, Michigan (USA) Ontario (Canada). Connect Lake Superior with Lake Michigan & the three other Great Lakes. The four US locks form part of a 1.6-mile (2.6-km) canal formally named the St. Mary's Falls Canal. The first iteration of the US locks was completed in May 1855 & operated by the State of Michigan until transferred to the US Army in 1881. The present US locks were constructed in 1914, 1919, 1943 & 1968. The Canadian lock (far left in air view) was completed in 1895.

S A W M I L L 1855 - Chicago lumber baron Charles Mears [1814-1895] begins to build a sawmill on the north side of what now is the "channel" in Pentwater. /// "Lumber baron, Charles Mears, built the channel to Lake Michigan & placed his saw mill on its north bank in 1855. A store & boarding house were built next nearby, Mears called this site Middlesex & included all of the land east to Hancock Street. In 1920 or 1923, Mears' daughter, Carrie, deeded 600 feet of beach north of the channel to the state of Michigan as the beginning of the present Charles Mears State Park." /// The Village of Mears & Charles Mears State Park now bear his name. Land for Campbell Park will be purchased in 1907 from Carrie E. Mears [1880-1957] in Chicago.

1856 - "The postoffice was opened in 1856, with E. R. Cobb as first postmaster; in 1857 H. C. Flagg, as a Democrat, took the office, with E. D. Richmond as deputy, and moved the office over to the Middlesex side. This was in the Spring when Buchanan became president. When Lincoln took office, in 1861, Mr. Richmond was promoted to be postmaster, but when Andy Johnson was "swinging round the circle," Mr. Richmond was rather disgusted, and getting at this time a request to contribute $50 as the assessment on his office, he showed the document to some returned soldiers, and they contributed a wad of confederate money, which was duly forwarded to Washington, but so little was this appreciated that he received, by return of mail, a notice that a successor had been appointed. This was A. J. Underhill, who held until 1867, when Amos Dresser got it. After him came Dr. Dundess, then Richmons again, in 1873; Dresser in 1877, then H. H. Bunyea, and lastly C. F. Lewis, in 1881; and the office is in the former drug store of J. G. Gray [from a history published in 1882]."

N A T I V E . A M E R I C A N S 1857 - "In 1857 there were approximately 800 Ottawa, Chippewa & Pottawatamie Native Americans in Pentwater." Images are from Native American Biography Collection at Central Michigan University (CMU), Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The CMU collection includes Baxter, Albert (1895), "Muskegon Pioneer Remnants," Vol. 26, pp. 272-274, which contains an account of Francis Bailey, a 'halfbreed' Indian trader & doctor from Muskegon who moved with the Potawatomi to Pentwater." /// Map shows 14 Federally recognized Indian bands which remain in Michigan today.

I N D I A N . R E S E R V A T I O N 1857 (Summer) - Ottawa Indians are removed from from the lower Grand River Valley (after a new road from Kalamazoo brings an influx of white settlers). Some are landed at Pentwater by a ship owned by Charles Mears [1814-1895] (as described in Schrumpf, page 3).  Bands of Ottawa, Chippewa & Pottawatami encamp at Pentwater Lake enroute to a 144 square mile reservation in Oceana & Mason Counties.  The Indian reservation centers on what is now Custer on US-10 in Mason County.  In the late 19th century, the government will sell the land both to Indians & to non-Indians, and the reservation will disappear. /// Image shows one-room McClellan School abandoned somewhere near Custer.

C H A N N E L . & . P I E R S Mid 1850's - "Charles Mears [1814-1895] digs a channel between Pentwater Lake & Lake Michigan. About 1858, he builds a 660 foot long [wooden] pier out into Lake Michigan from the north bank of the channel so that the largest boats on the lake could haul lumber to his yards in Chicago and drop off cargo for the village." NB: Third image made in 1910. Four image made during harbor improvement project in May 1938.

F E R R Y 1858-1926 - Ferry, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "In 1858 Charles Mears [1814-1895] established a ferry service across the channel." /// "A wooden scow on which one could ride across the channel to catch the train or visit friends in Frenchtown. It cost 5 cents for a person, 10 cents for a man with a horse, 25 cents for a team & wagon, 2 cents each for cattle, sheep & pigs. The ferry ran on a heavy wire cable stretched across the channel from shore to shore. The ferry man would pull the scow across the channel with a large wooden mallet slotted to fit the cable. Occasionally, passengers would help." The photo on the far right was taken in 1910.

1861 (April 20)-1870 - Oceana Times is published in Pentwater. The first newspaper between Muskegon & Traverse City (as described in Schrumpf, p. 17 ). In 1861. Pentwater is still the only village in Oceana County. The village has three stores, two steam sawmills, one printing press, several fisheries, two lawyers, one pastor & 300 residents.

R O C K

1861-1865 - Civil War. A war monument will be erected after the war in Pentwater at Second & Hancock Streets. It's still seen everyday by practically everyone but seldom recognized because its inscription says only "G.A.R 61-65 W.R.C". GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic, and WRC for Women's Relief Corps. /// From Facebook, April 15, 2010: David L Barrett: "Do you remember the big rock that sat on the corner of hancock & 2nd street, that was used as a meeting place. what ever happened to that rock?" Bill Daggett: "I think it still there, it has a plaque on it from some war organization? Help here. Sits on the corner of Hancock and 2nd St."

B A R N

1862 - Pentwater River Barn, on business route US-31, Weare Township, Oceana County, Michigan (USA). Built in 1862 by Charles Mears [1814-1895], a 19th century lumber baron who built sawmills in Muskegon, Oceana & Mason Counties. Has served as a seemingly indestructible symbol of the edge of Pentwater for generations of residents & visitors. The land it's on is part of the Pentwater River State Game Area.

1864 (May 5) - Herbert Lockwook Willett [1864-1944] is born in Ionia, Michigan. Slightly older that other Campbell Park founders, Dr. Willett will be the first to establish himself at the University of Chicago.

1864 - "Andrew Rector [is] shot by one Fuller, in Hart, whom he was attempting to 'regulate.' This same Rector was the same man who shot a neighbor's hog, in his hot wrath, but which was cooled down when he was tried before 'Jimmy Dexter,' the primitive justice of the peace of the west shore, who sent Rector 99 years to jail, at Whisky Creek, for the heinous offense. Many are the quaint stories told of 'Jimmy,' who still lives a few miles north of Pentwater. Rector might have been in jail yet, had it not been for a writ of habeus corpus [from a history published in 1882]."

1866 Isaac Errett [1820-1888] founds the Christian Standard in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Christian Standard has been resourcing Christian churches since it was founded in 1866. Now it is the principal magazine connecting these congregations in the farflung, nondenominational fellowship whose congregations are usually known as Christian Churches or Churches of Christ." A "street" will be named for Isaac Errett in Campbell Park in 1907.

L I G H T H O U S E S 1867 - First lighthouse in the area is constructed just north of Ludington at Big Point Sable (Grand Point aux Sables). The 112-foot brick tower will be encased in protective steel plates in 1900. A 104-foot brick lighthouse will be constructed at Little Point Sable (Petit Point aux Sables) in 1874. The Little Point Sable light will be automated in 1954, and the Big Point Sable light will be automated in 1968. The two lights are almost equidistant from Campbell Park, but neither light is visible from Campbell Park because of the shape of the shoreline. /// The gentleman in the right image is social sciences professor Michael W. Nagle of Westshore Community College.

C H A N N E L 1867 - Charles Mears' Channel between Pentwater Lake & Lake Michigan is enlarged by the Federal Government. A Life Saving Station (LSS) will be built on the channel in 1880. It will later be called Coast Guard Station #267 and permanently closed in 1959. Its tower will be moved to Snug Harbor Marina (qv), and the site will become Channel Park (image on far right & flag tower on right (north) side of image of the modern channel).

I N C O R P O R A T I O N 1867 (March 16) - Village of Pentwater is incorporated by an act of the Michigan legislature. "Middlesex was absorbed into Pentwater when the village was formed in 1867. " Image shows plaque at the village hall.

C H U R C H 1868 - St. Vincent's Catholic Church,637 East Sixth Street, Pentwater, Michigan. "Built in 1868. There is no record of its completion or dedication." /// "Next to the church on the west side was a home occupied by Mrs. Baker & her son Smokey. Mrs. Baker was talented at tatting & made beautiful shawls & doilies, many of which my mother had at one time. Smokey, her son, was somewhat of a character in town but was very likeable, and I enjoyed talking to him. Many Pentwater residents didn't know at the time that Judge [James Herbert] Wilkerson [1869-1948] from Chicago stayed in a cottage in back of the church. He sentenced Al Capone to prison [on November 24, 1931]. My brother and I used to deliver groceries to the Judge with our horse & wagon."

1869-70 - Four key founders of Campbell Park are born within 15 months of each other: George Alexander CAMPBELL, 27 Jan 1869 near Morpeth, Ontario (Canada). Luna May JAMESON, 12 Apr 1869 near Galva, Illinois. Mable VAN METER, 12 May 1869, near De Soto Iowa. And Edward Scribner AMES, 21 Apr 1870 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. May and Mable are second cousins. (Their common ancestors are Baptist minister John Murphy [1782-1848] and his wife Nancy LAMB [1788-1830].) Three of the four are born on farms. All four are born into families of the Disciples of Christ, also known as Campbellites. (Until 1850, the Disciples in Ontario had been Scottish Baptists.) All four will attend Drake University together, later live in Chicago at the same time, and help found Campbell Park in 1907.

L U M B E R

1869-1900 - "Between 1869 & 1900, Michigan was the nation's leading lumber producer." /// Left image shows a logging camp in Clare County (from Michigan Historical Museum). "The man seated in the center of the photo holds a log scale. The seated man next to him holds a double-bitted axe. Behind them, a camp member raises his rifle to celebrate the deer that will provide venison for dinner (along with the ever-present beans). Other men hold long-handled tools - the photographer did not include the end of each pole with the tool that determines whether it is a cant hook, a peavey or a pike pole." Right image shows logs en route to a sawmill in Minnesota. Click here for an excellent set of logging photos from this era.

H O U S E

1870 - Hexagon House, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "Built by S. E. Russell as a boarding house for lumbermen visiting Pentwater from Chicago & around the Great Lakes. Back then one could climb up into the cupola & see ships arriving out on Lake Michigan. Today, of course, the trees have reached a height where the lake is no longer visible. Only Pentwater Lake is still visible to the south along Russell Road. The Hexagon House has only changed hands six times since its construction & was completely restored in 1996 by Curt & Jan Warners." Now operated as a B&B.

F I R E

1871 (October 8-10) - Great Chicago Fire kills hundreds & destroys about 4 square miles (10 km2) in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest US disasters of the 19th century, the rebuilding that begins almost immediately spurs Chicago's development into one of the most populous & economically important American cities. Rebuilding dramatically increases demand for West Michigan lumber (easily transported to Chicago across Lake Michigan).

1871 (October 8-9) - Smoke from the Great Chicago Fire can be seen from Pentwater. The same wind that fans the flames in Chicago also starts fires in many parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. The towns of Holland & Manistee are burned to the ground. A forest fire burns in Oceana County near Shelby.

P A P E R

1871-1874 - "The Christian of Kansas City, Mo., is consolidated with the Gospel Echo [of Macomb, Ills.], and Mr. [James Harvey] Garrison [1842-1937] removes to Quincy, Ills., where he publishes the consolidated paper under the title of Gospel Echo and Christian at first, and later as The Christian. In the year 1873 a joint stock company is organized and incorporated as the 'Christian Publishing Company,' and The Christian is moved to St. Louis, and is issued from that city from January 1, 1874, under the auspices of the publishing company, with J.H. Garrison as editor-in-chief. He has resided in St. Louis ever since..."

R A I L R O A D 1872 (January 1) - Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad (C&MLS) reaches Pentwater, its northernmost point. Left image shows RR station (south of channel on west side of Pentwater Lake) & a 6-man train crew, including a black porter. Middle image shows the Pentwater to Ludington steamer "John D. Dewar" moured at the RR station. Right image shows rail sidings in foreground & White Elephant across Pentwater Lake in background. Freight service by rail will last exactly 60 years & end in 1932 (with passenger service ending in 1927).

F I R E . D E P A R T M E N T 1872 (March 4) - "Pentwater Fire Department is created, and W.B.O. Sands is elected Chief Engineer. Uniforms of the day consist of red flannel jackets with large black plush collars & cuffs, wide white belts, and big hats with pointed crowns. One side of the hat brim is wider than the other, and in case of fire, it is worn with the wide side to the front to prevent water from running into the firefighter’s face. The Chief & his assistants each carry a bugle that is used to signal the men during a fire. The fire department will have its initial big fire on May 6, 1872, when the Eldred Shingle Mill burns to the ground. The mill is a total loss, but the volunteer firefighters & the 'Oceana' (the steam engine purchased by the village in the photo) saved the surrounding buildings from destruction."

1872 (May 6) - Eldred's Shingle Mill in Frenchtown (South side of Pentwater Lake) burns to the ground. Considered to be the biggest shingle mill in the entire country, it employed "80 men and 20 girls" and made 270,000 shingles a day. The mill will never be rebuilt, but a large furniture factory will be "organized" in 1882, only to be destroyed by fire in 1898.

M A P 1874 - Map of Central Michigan (From Asher & Adams). Note Pentwater at northern end of the railroad along Lake Michigan shoreline.

1874 - Charles Clayton Morrison is born in Harrison, Ohio. His brother Hugh T. Morrison will be born in 1877. Their father is a Disciples minister who will move from church to church in Iowa while his two sons and one daughter grow up. Slightly younger than other Campbell Park founders, "CC" Morrison will find his true calling in 1908 when he purchases the Christian Century.  Hugh T. Morrison will graduate from medical school in 1907 or 1908 but never practice medicine.

B I R D S

1874-76 - Passenger pigeons swarm in Pentwater and other parts of Oceana County. "For nearly a mile along the shore, the Indians beat them down in windrows with brush, the Squaws picking up the birds." Hunters and sightseers flock to Pentwater. Whole rail carloads of dead and living birds are shipped to distant markets. The last passenger pigeon will die in the Cincinnati Zoo on 01 Sep 1914.

F E R R Y

1875 - "The Flint & Pere Marquette Railway chartered the 175 foot long side-wheeler steamer "John Sherman" (left image) to shuttle grain, packaged freight & passengers between Ludington, Michigan, & Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Seventeen years later, James Ashley [1824-1896], former governor of Montana & then president of the Ann Arbor Railroad, pushed cross-lake service into the 20th century when he ordered the 260 foot wooden hulled "Ann Arbor" (right image) & loaded it with railroad cars. Having proved that a car ferry was a viable alternative to shipping loose bulk cargo, the Lake Michigan car ferry service was born." /// "On March 8, 1910, fire burned the Ann Arbor #1 to the water line. The hull was eventually converted into a sand scow."

W R E C K

1878 (September 20) - The schooner "Lt.Gen. U.S. Grant" flounders at Pentwater. This may or may not be the wreck found just off the Campbell Park beach. On Feb. 26-27, 2003, shipwreck expert Brendon Baillod will write: "I think there's a 90% chance that the [Campbell Park] remains belong to either the schooner J.M. Hughes (11/15/1855), the schooner H.N. Gates (12/14/1864), the schooner Roanoke (10/27/1866), the schooner Lt.Gen. U.S. Grant (9/20/1878), or the steam work tug Alice E. Getty (11/20/1884). It may be possible for me to positively identify her solely based on location. I have dimensions and pretty good location info on all the above wrecks. The Hughes & Gates are long shots not because of their age [but] because I don't have good news accounts that give their location with respect to the [Pentwater] piers." See wreck-related entries for 1953 (about), 1985 (Summer), and 2003.

M A P

1880 - Bird's Eye View of Pentwater is published. Among the 15 sites identified by number are a lumber mill, a "flouring" mill (Nickerson & Collister), two shingle mills (Sands & Maxwell's, J.E. White's), three churches (Methodist, Congregational, Roman Catholic), railroad station & trotting park. The largest mill is now the site of Snug Harbor Marina, and the view shows lumber stacked along Pentwater Lake where in the open area which is now the municipal marina.  Nothing at all is shown on the shore of Lake Michigan except sand dunes.

1882 - "The mercantile business is transacted in three large general stores, three exclusively grocery stores, two furniture stores, two hardware stores, two drug stores, three blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, a broomhandle factory, and a large wholesale furniture factory is being erected. In lumer [summer?] there are four shinglemills and three sawmills, two of which have shinglemills attached. The annual product, with the mills up the river is not far from 20,000,000 feet of lumber, and the same number of shingles. George Voorhees, superintendent of sorting drives, reports in 1881, 45,590 logs, 30,812 posts, 89,698 ties, and 27,446 telegraph poles. The shipment of wood by Sands & Maxwell, which is annually from 1,000 to 2,000 cords, and the bark, also form important items in the trade of Pentwater [from a history published in 1882]."

1882 - "Pentwater is a remarkably healthy place, and is becoming yearly more of a resort for invalids and tourists. The present hotels are crowded in the Summers, and private houses are pressed into the service to take Summer boarders. A movement is now on foot to erect a large Summer hotel by a joint stock company. To show the healthfulness of Pentwater, we may mention, that during the year ending April 1, 1882, there were but twenty deaths, of which eleven were of children under two years of age, and of the remainder five were brought here to die, being given up by home physicians, and but two of the remaining deaths could properly be charged to Pentwater. There is no chance for malaria, as all low places drain into the lake [from a history published in 1882]."

B R I C K . F A C T O R Y 1883 (July) - Middlesex Brick & Tile Company, Pentwater, Michigan (USA), is incorporated. Its factory is located on Lake Road (near the present dead end sign). It will make the blond bricks used to construct many Pentwater buildings, including the Village Hall, the Methodist Church, Gustafson's, Sally Dicks [department store] & many homes. (Middlesex is the name given by Charles Mears [1814-1895] to the area west of Hancock Street.) /// Image shows old brick kiln in Washington, DC.

G E N E R A L . S T O R E Date? - General Store & meeting rooms, 189 South Hancock Street, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "Built by Charles Mears [1814-1895] to serve as a large general store on the main floor, with offices & a large combined meeting & dining room on the 2nd floor. During construction, Mears, a dedicated Mason, became concerned that the newly-formed Masonic Lodge lacked a permanent hall. With the support of others, he decided to add the 3rd floor, designing and furnishing it as an elaborate Masonic Temple. The Masons occupied the third floor until the early 1960's when the estate of Charles Mears' daughter was being settled. The Masons decided to accept the offer of a smaller, street-level building in trade for the 3rd floor temple." Ground floor & basement served for many years as Gustafson's World's Market Place (as seen in middle image). Now Silver Hills Antiques.

V I L L A G E . H A L L About 1883 - Community Hall. "Now usually called Village Hall. Has changed little since it was built. There have been alterations along the eaves, the windows, and the door on the first floor. Next door to the Village hall was the G.T. Sands General Store. It burned in 1920 and was never rebuilt. The space that the store once occupied is now the Library lawn [aka Bell Park]."

C H U R C H About 1883 - Centenary United Methodist Church, 82 South Hancock Street, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Previous church constructed in 1867 & burned down in 1875. Present church rebuild with bricks from Pentwater Brick Yard. Note peace pole on the Hancock Street sidewalk (planted about 2007). /// "I was janitor there for a year when Reverend Elmer was the officiant. I had to get to church early on Sundays to start a fire in the furnace and dust the pews or sometimes shovel snow."

C H U R C H 1883 (September) - "St. James Episcopal Church, 82 South Wythe Street, Pentwater, Michigan. held its first service in September 1883 & is located near the Baptist Church, and a few blocks away from the Methodist Church." Note Baptist Church in background of image.

1884 - Christian Oracle is launched in Iowa by F. M. Kirkham. (Mrs. Kirkham is the sister of General Drake for whom Drake University is named.) The paper will move to Chicago in 1891 and change its name to the Christian Century at the end of 1899.

P O S T . O F F I C E About 1885 - Post Office, Hancock Street, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Post office is in the store front at the extreme right of the line of shops. Right image shows Pentwater mail boxes (now preserved at White Pine Village near Ludington). New post office building constructed on other side of Hancock Street sometime around 1985.

B R O T H E L 1887 (July 4) - A thousand loggers are entertained with free beer & dancing by the prostitutes who inhabit "Sawdust Flats," a six-block area of filled land at Muskegon (now a landscaped park on old US-31). /// Image shows the Ashley Furman house in Muskegon. "It was the type of 'rooming house' targeted by the city’s 1917 crackdown on vice. Located at Market & Terrace, the house was built in the 1860's & served as a brothel during the lumber era. It was razed in 1939."

P O R T . O F . L U D I N G T O N 1888 - Number of mills peaks in Ludington. The city has nine sawmills, three salt plants, three shingle mills & one planing mill. Thomas Rice Lyon [1854-1909] owns two sawmills, a salt plant, a fleet of vessels & "the double brick store" at 902 South Washington Avenue. Lyon's company constructed three hugh scows (barges) in Ludington in 1882 (one of which will loose its cargo and become fatally damaged off Pentwater on Sept. 8, 1910). Lyon's operations will be purchased in 1898 by his brother-in-law Justus Smith Stearns [1845-193]. Image is a relief model at White Pine Village.

1889 - Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958] is graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, closely followed by Mable Van Meter [1869-1953], George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943], and Luna May Jameson [1869-1940]. George and May will marry at her family's home in Des Moines in 1892. Ed and Mable will marry at her family's home near De Sota, Iowa, in 1893. The two couples will later share an apartment in Chicago and remain life-long friends. Their cottages in Campbell Park will be adjacent (although the order of the cottages is determined by lot).

F I R E

1889 - Destructive fire begins in a cigar store on the west side of Hancock Street & levels most of the wooden stores on that side of Pentwater's main street (Hancock Street). Before & after photos scanned from Schrumpf (1942) clearly show destruction on both sides of the street. According to Schrumpf, "a three story brick building replaced these & at the present time [1942] is occupied by Mac's Pharmacy (formerly J.L. Congdon's), O. Osborn Insurance Agency & William Gray's Tavern. The News Office just north was built about fifteen years ago [i.e. c.1927]." Does this refer to the two story building later known for Lite's Drugs, the Antler Bar & Shaw's Insurance Agency? Wonder why Schrumpf does not mention that the White Elephant was constructed where the destroyed buildings used to be. (NB: Scans are not good.)

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y Before 1890 (year uncertain) - Oceana Beach is established between Lake Michigan & Pentwater Lake just south of the pier. Owned by Oceana Beach Association, this is the first summer colony in Pentwater. Others will follow, including the North Beach Association about 1902, Garrison Park in 1904 Campbell Park in 1907. Left postcard was mailed in 1946. Note boardwalks in all three images.

1890 - - Oceana County Pioneers & Businss Men of To-Day: History, Biography, Statistics & Humorous Instances" by Louis M. Hartwick & William H. Tuller is published by "Pentwater News Steam Print." Complete text is on Google Books. (Hartwick is proprietor of the Pentwater News.)
Lists the following hotels:

Imus House, E.W. Elliott, Prop. [will be used by Purdue University]
Forest House, W.S. Dumont, Prop.
Lake View House, W.C. Adkins, Prop. [site of Nickerson Inn?]

Lists the following manufactories:

Pentwater Bedstead Co., Sands & Maxwell, Props. [will explode in 1898]
Middlesex Brick & Tile Co. [founded by Charles Mears]
Foundry and Water Works, E.J. Birkett, Prop.
Tables, Wagons and Agricultural Implements, J. Halstead
Table Slides, J.S. Bird
Flouring Mill, Nickerson & Collister [will burn in 1894]
Planning and Carpenter, Labonta & Mero
Saw Mills, Sands & Maxwell Lumber Co., F.O. Gardner, A.J. Underhill
Shingle, C.H. Chapman
Oceana County Canning and Evaporating Co. [predecessor of Sears & Nichols?]

1890 (June 1) - - "The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Michigan, counted in the general census, number 5,621 (2,925 males & 2,699 females), and are distributed as follows: Mason County, 335; Manistee County, 22; Oceania County [sic], 271... Many of the Indians work as fishermen and lumbermen. Large quantities of maple sugar are made by Indians in favorable years, which is used for food and for trade with the whites. In some localities Indians gather great quantities of wild berries for canning or for shipment to the cities. Many of them are scattered, singly and in groups, along the shores of the Great Lakes, on the banks of rivers, and in the woods. There are 3 Indian reservations in Michigan, as noted in the records of the Indian Office..."

F U R N I T U R E . F A C T O R Y 1890 - Pentwater Bedstead Factory & channel, as photographed in 1890. "The Pentwater Furniture Factory was built when the lumber boom ended [what year?]. Furniture was shipped to all parts of the USA. The company employed 50 to 100 men. Later it was sold to the Sands & Maxwell Lumber Company and was renamed the Pentwater Bedstead Company. In 1898 the boiler exploded in the middle of the day, killing three men & injuring several others. The roof of the factory was said to have lifted right into midair. Bricks flew as far away as three blocks."

M A P 1890 - Map of Pentwater Township shows Oceana Beach (a summer colony just south of the channel), Lake Shore Park (now Charles Mears State Park), a race course & the railroad. The future site of Campbell Park is labeled "Chas. Mears Est.".

W H I T E . E L E P H A N T 1891 - Construction of the Valeria Hotel for summer visitors is begun in Pentwater on the West side of Hancock Street, using blond bricks made from local sand. The huge hotel costs so much to build that Pentwater leaders repeatedly run out of money and have to stop and restart construction. The bulding will never be fully finished, is never used as a hotel, soon becomes known as "The White Elephant," & burns down in 1927. One corner of the "White Elephant" was converted into a movie theater (now the "Hancock Building"), but most of the site is occupied today by the village green [right image].

1891 - Herbert Lockwood Willett [1864-1944] enters Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. "There he comes under the influence of renowned biblical scholar William Rainey Harper [1856-1906], who encourages Willett to serve his fellow Disciples through a more intensive & more academic study of scripture. In 1896 Willett becomes the first Disciple to earn a PhD in biblical studies. From Yale, Willett enters the University of Berlin to study with Adolph Harnack [1851-1930] & Hermann Gunkel [1862-1932]." (John D. Rockefeller picks Harper to help organize the University of Chicago which he serves as its first president.)

P A P E R

1891 - F. M. Kirkham moves the Christian Oracle from Iowa to Chicago, "thinking they might appeal to a wider constituency." James Harvey Garrison [image] will buy control of the paper & name his son Arthur its editor. In Arthur's absense, Garrison will ask George Alexander Campbell to serve as editor. Then a group of young men (including GAC, Edward Scribner Ames, Herbert Lockwood Willett, F. F. Grinn, and Charles Alexander Young) will buy the paper from Garrison.  Garrison, Campbell, Ames, Willett & Young will all buy land for summer cottages in Pentwater.

F I R E . W A G O N 1892 (April 28) - "Sands & Maxwell Lumber Company donates a hose wagon to the Pentwater Fire Department. [Ironically, the wagon does not save the company's store when it burns in 1920.] This unit is featured in the Homecoming Parade in August of each year." Note cutout of a dalmation dog riding on the wagon's tongue.

1893 - "Manitou," 275-foot steel steamship constructed in Chicago for passenger service between Chicago & Sault Saint Marie, Michigan. With stops at Ludington & other ports?

1893 (May 1-October 31) - Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) records 27 million paid admissions & brings untold attention to the booming city of Chicago. Image is faded snapshot showing Lake Michigan waterfront with German & French parvillions in background. It was found loose in a photo album kept by Luna May Jameson Campbell, indicating that she may have attended the fair.

September 11-27, 1893 - First Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Concurrent with the World Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair). Attended by 4,000 delegates from all over the World. Organized by Unitarian minister Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones [1843-1918]. Addresses included an introducton to Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda [1863-1902] and "The Religious Mission of the Colored Race" by Fannie Barrier Williams [1855-1944], a black member of Jones's Unitarian church in Chicago. Attended by 75-year-old Frederick Douglass [c1818-1895].

1894 (June) - Disciples Divinity House is created at the University of Chicago. Herbert Lockwill Willett [1864-1944] is the first Dean. (George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] will write: "I first met Dr. Willett in one of the classrooms. He was young, poised, good-looking, and eloquent. Nature had done a good deal for him.") Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958] will be the second Dean and William Barnett Blakemore [1876-1944], a frequent visitor to Campbell Park, the third.

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1894 - Epworth League Training Assembly acquires land on the Lake Michigan beachfront in Ludington (about 15 miles north of Pentwater) for "scientific, intellectual, and religious studies" and immediately constructs a frame hotel. Originally affiliated with the Methodist Church, Epworth Heights is today a summer colony with "215 cottages, 250 acres, seven tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, and a peak summer population of about 2,000." Part of the hotel is now a museum.

F I R E 1894 - "Nickerson & Collister big [flouring] mill burns in 1894; only the presence of the [brick] Hotel Valeria [White Elephant] prevents a terrific gale from igniting all of [Hancock] street [according to the Pentwater Fire Department website]."

C H U R C H 1895 - Baptist Church, 85 South Rutledge Street, Pentwater, Michigan. "Built in 1884, but it burned the night before Thanksgiving in 1893. The present church was built in 1895, with Pentwater bricks."

1895 (May 23) - Charles Mears [1814-1895] dies at his home in Chicago and is succeeded by his daughter Carrie Ellen Mears. In 1907, Miss Mears will sell lake-front land for the creation of Campbell Park. In 1920 or 1923, she will donate the land just north of the Pentwater pier which will become Lake Shore Park (now Charles Mears State Park). Left two images are undated postcards showing bath house on beach in Charles Mears State Park. Note pilings of Mears' old wooden pier on right side of both images.

1896 - "The first steel hulled cross-lake car ferry. Launched in 1896, and ready for service by February 1897, the ship is named Pere Marquette, after the famed Jesuit missionary. The 350 foot long vessel is an immediate success & proves to be a fine ice-breaker. So significant is the design that it will set the standard for many railroad ferries built in the 2Oth century on the Great Lakes & abroad."

1896 - The Campbell Institute is founded in Chicago by 14 "university students and instructors" from Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago in order to promote a "riper scholarship" within the Disciples of Christ. Of the six charter members still alive in 1940, four are connected to Pentwater: Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958], George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943], Winfred Ernest Garrison [1874-1969], and Herbert Lockwood Willett [1864-1944]. In 1907, Dr. Ames will become editor of the institute's monthly publication, "The Scroll".

c1895-1897 - Obviously posed photos of George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943] & Luna May JAMESON Campbell [1869-1940]. Left proto taken in a photo studio in Hiawatha, Kansas, about 1895. Right photo taken at their home in Chicago, Illinois, in 1987. They were married in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1892, and their five children are born in 1894 (RBC), 1898 (EJC), 1901 (GMC), 1904 (RAC) & 1912 (MEC).

1898 - Spanish-American War. "Company A [35th Michigan Volunteer Infantry] is composed of men from Pentwater, Oceana, Mason & Muskegon counties. They are a hardy lot and make a fine appearing company. They regard it as a lucky omen that, in the drawing of company letters, 'A' fell to their lot. This company was mustered in July 12, which was the 28th anniversary of the birthday of its captain, Herbert F. Sands of Pentwater, the senior member of the firm of Sands & Maxwell Lumber Company [who] received his military training at Orchard Lake. Early in the war, Captain Sands offered the services of his company to whom he is most liberal and considerate and who fairly worship him." /// Right image is the academic building of the Michigan Military Academy, constructed in 1885 or 1890 at Orchard Lake Village, Michigan (now St. Mary's Preparatory School).

1898 - Bortell's Landing (about 5 miles north of Pentwater) starts to catch and process Lake Michigan fish. Bortell's still operates as a family-owned summer fish market but no longer as a fishery.

1898 - "In 1898 a boiler explosion at the Pentwater Bedstead factory halts operations, and after rebuilding, another fire will finish the factory in 1900 [according to Pentwater Fire Department website]." /// Pentwater furniture factory burns "and with it the hopes and plans of the community...thus ending all lumbering & furniture interests [in Pentwater]... The boiler explodes in mid-day, hurling bricks as far as three blocks away [according to Schrumpf, page 55)]."

1899 (November)- "The Christian Century" is suggested as the new name of "The Christian Oracle" by its editor, George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943], in recognition of the turn of the 20th century. As recalled by Charles Clayton Morrison: "As the 19th century passed into the 20th, the whole Christian world was in a mood of expectant optimism. The press was full of discussion and prediction of the wonders that would take place in the new era which the new century was ushering in. Dr. George A. Campbell, a Chicago pastor, was at that time editor of The Oracle. None of us liked that name. Campbell suggested that this new century must be made a Christian century. He accordingly proposed that The Oracle be re-Christened with that name. His friends... heartily agreed. And so in 1900 it was done. No name could have better symbolized the optimistic outlook of that period."

1900-1902 - "Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958] becomes pastor of the Hyde Park Christian Church [later renamed University Church of Disciples of Christ], Chicago, and shortly after publishes a sermon entitled 'A Personal Confession of Faith.' No notice is taken of the sermon until 1902, when, in connection with a sermon advocating 'Associate Church Membership,' he is denounced by the editors of the Christian Standard as a Unitarian & apostate from the accepted teachings of the Disciples, and pronounced unworthy of fellowship among them. The church of which he is pastor is called upon to dismiss him or acknowledge its agreement with his opinions. The church takes action in a series of resolutions declaring its loyalty to the doctrinal position of the denomination, and affirming its right to liberty in local church government, as well as in doctrinal matters not involving the essential teachings of Christianity."

C A N N I N G . F A C T O R Y 1901 - Sears & Nichols Canning Factory, Pentwater Lake, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Factory "packs a full line of Michigan products, including peas, corn, beans, pumpkin and a full line of Michigan fruits." Postcard in left image dates from 1913 (note Centenary Methodist Church in background). Right image shows channel ferry & White Elephant at far right. See other Sears & Nichols factory in Chillicothe, Ohio. "General" Sears testified April 25, 1919, that lack of Federal dredging sometimes prevents getting Pentwater produce to Milwaukee in time for the daily market, noting that "Oceana County is the greatest fruit section of Michigan; that the value of fruit...is 10 to 20 times as much per ton as lumber." One of the largest canning companies in the USA, Sears & Nichols will declare bankrupcy in April 1922. Site developed about 1970 into private lakeside homes. Image at far right shows label for Sears & Nichols "Sugar Loaf Sue" brand of canned goods.

S T E A M E R About 1902-1912 - When actual dates of service? Wallace Henry Van Dyke [1871-1936] "was made Captain of the 'John D. Dewar' which ran from Pentwater to Ludington. She carried anything that was in season. This was before 1902 and Captain Wallace and family moved to Pentwater." /// Steamer schedule for 1912 shows two 75-minute sailings per day in each direction between Pentwater & Ludington and says that all departures & arrivals connect with trains in Pentwater [far left image] and with both trains & lake steamers in Ludington." /// "The Pentwater boats were small, the best remembered probably the Grace Barker, the E.G. Maxwell & the John D. Dewar. The 12-mile ride [from Ludington] to Pentwater, supper at the Elliott House (later the Imus House) and return by moonlight was a favorite holiday trip in the days before the automobile changed our way of having a good time." /// Note "PENTWATER-LUDINGTON LINE" painted on the boat in four of five images showing the bow. /// This must be the boat which the men of Campbell Park used to complete their journeys to Pentwater after taking the steamship from Chicago to Ludington. // Much photographed & published as postcard!

1902 (about) - North Beach Association, a summer colony immediately North of Campbell Park, is "pioneered" by Wendell Topping, a Chicago real estate man. The Topping cottage will burn down in 1941.

1902 (Fall) - "The West Side Christian Church of Springfield, Illinois, calls from Chicago two young men, Hugh T. Morrison, Jr., & Charles Clayton Morrison (brothers) as co-pastors, and the relationship will exist until January 1, 1905, when Hugh T., wishing to continue further study in the University, left his brother, Charles C. Morrison, with the entire burden as pastor. In July 1905, the latter held a series of meetings in a tent erected for that purpose in the southeast part of the city, which resulted in the organization of the Stuart Street Christian Church with about 85 members [disbanded in late 1950's]. Mr. Morrison also held a tent meeting in the northeast part of the city the same year. After leaving Springfield, he became editor of the "New Christian Century" [sic] of Chicago, which position he continues to occupy."

C E M E N T . F A C T O R Y 1902 - Marlborough, near Baldwin, Michigan (USA). Thirty road miles east of Pentwater. Today "consists essentially of the ruins of one of the largest cement plants in the world, built in 1902; it covers more than 40 acres, and was an immense operation. It was considered a 'model town,' in view of the services & amenities made available to its workers. From 1903 to 1906, it was exactly that; in 1907, the company slid into bankruptcy, due to serious miscalculations concerning its sources of raw materials as well as its markets. By the end of WW-I, it was a ghost town, with most of its assets stripped & sold."

1903 - "'Open Membership' is introduced into the Hyde Park Church by Edward Scribner Ames in 1903. The unimmersed are first accepted as 'associate members' of the congregation. Ames holds that immersion is a major obstacle to the Disciple goal of Christian unity & contends that simply because immersion was a practice in Biblical times does not mandate that it be followed in our times, especially when 'other forms of baptism have served the same purpose & accomplished the same results, apparently, in the experience of Christian people.' Ames edits The Scroll, the quarterly organ of the Campbell Institute, and, beginning with the second issue of this publication, he becomes a persistent advocate of the practice." (In 1904 Ames could list only six congregations that practiced some form of Open Membership, but this number would increase... Today, it has gained almost universal acceptance among Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) & is universally opposed by Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.)

V I S I T

1903 - George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] of Chicago makes his first visit to Pentwater with Zachary Taylor Sweeney [1849-1926], Disciples minister of Columbus, Indiana. Newly elected as President of the American Christian Missionary Society, Rev. Sweeney is trying to establish a memorial for his late son, Joseph Irwin Sweeney, and is considering the purchase of the White Elephant. The two ministers meet with village leaders, walk around Pentwater Lake [image on far right], and also visit the future site of Campbell Park, "a 33-acre tract of woods north of the pier...that Dr. [Edward Scribner] Ames had first discovered." Click here for full text of GAC's account of this visit (published in 1944).

V I S I T

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1903 (October) - Dr. James Harvey Garrison [1842-1937] of St. Louis makes his first visit to Pentwater, Michigan, "seeking a location for his future summer resort." In 1904 he & Mrs. Garrison will will rent a cottage in Oceana Beach. They will decide to "leave [Lake] Macatawa [at Holland, Michigan] to pioneer at a less congested beach."  In September 1904 Dr. Garrison & four other Disciples (W.J. Halleck of Kansas City, T.T. Crittenden, Jr., of Kansas City, J.L. Brandt of St. Louis & Charles Alexander Young of Chicago) will purchase 40 acres from Oceana Beach and establish Garrison Park between Lake Michigan and Pentwater Lake.  In addition to being a Disciples minister, Dr. Garrison is editor the Christian-Evangelist and will publish a weekly column for several summers called "Pentwater Musings."  In his autobiography, George Alexander Campbell will credit the "pioneering" of Dr. Garrison for the existence of Campbell Park. (The name of the cottage built by the Garrisons in 1905 is "The Pioneer.")  Both inhabited largely by members of the Disciples of Christ, Campbell Park and Garrison Park residents will share many joint beach parties and church meetings in their early years. (Both "parks" continue today, but -- without the ferry or bridge over the channel -- they are separated by many miles of road, and their residents are now barely aware of each other's existence.) /// Lower image [right click to enlarge] is photo looking north from Garrison Park toward the Pentwater piers & beyond. Note the "Three Sisters" sand dunes just north of Campbell Park & the bluff of glacial till at "Kings Canyon" in Mason County south of Ludington.

B A N D

1903 - Locally famous Scottville Clown Band begins with its members dressed as hillbillies. The present name & costume will be adopted in 1947. Image shows the Clown Band marching past the marine supply store in Pentwater.

1904 - "Captain Wallace [Henry Van Dyke] [1871-1936] owned the "JESSIE WINTERS" around 1904 & sailed her from Pentwater, Michigan." Caption is: "Schooner JESSIE WINTERS, later re-nameed LARAPIDA. Built at Sheboygan Wis. in 1876. This picture shows her loading fruit at Pentwater Mich. in 1904. She was then owned and operatd by Capt. W.H. Van Dyke. Was sold that fall to Capt. Arthur Dow of Manitowoc Wis. She was wrecked at Naubinway Mich. Lake Michigabn and became a total loss November 25th 1906." /// N.B.: Building behind the schooner must be the "White Elephant" which burned down in 1927.

1904 - "James Harvey Garrison", a biographical sketch by Charles Alexander Young [1858-1927], is published in "Historical Documents Advocating Christian Union" (pp. 335–339). Click here for full text.

B I R D S

C O N S E R V A T I O N I S T 1904 - "Michigan Audubon Society is founded at a time when birds are being hunted in unsustainable numbers to provide feathers for hats. Edith Cushnay Munger [1865-1945] of Hart, Michigan, will join the society in 1910, persuade many women to use chicken feathers to decorate their hats...become the first female president of the society in 1913, serve as president until 1934, preside over the election of the robin as the official state bird in a 1929 statewide vote among 21 feathered candidates...and successfully lobby for the expansion of Silver Lake State Park to include 1,500 acres of spectacular dunes on the Lake Michigan shore south of Pentwater." Munger's home in Hart has been headquarters of the Oceana County Historical & Geneological Society since 1984.

S H I P

1904 - S.S. Missouri, Chicago, Illinois (USA). "Built in 1904 for the Northern Michigan Transportation Company of Chicago, the S.S. Missouri was sister ship to the S.S. Illinois. In the days before highway transportation for freight & mail, these vessels were providers for many of the communities on their route: Chicago, Ludington, Manistee, Frankfort, Traverse City, Charlevois & Mackinaw Island. In 1920, the Missouri's company was reorganized as the Michigan Transportation Company, and in 1935, she was acquired by the Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Company, which used her little. She was scrapped in 1948." Left image is postcard postmarked September 3, 1905, in Chicago. Right image (circa 1920) shows added cabins? Another image of the Missouri will be used about 1907 for the Campbell Park brochure (qv).

1906 - Publication of "Christian Union: A Historical Study" by James Harvey Garrison, Christian Publishing Company, St. Louis, Missouri. In the author's dedication of his work to the memory of Thomas Campbell [1763-1854], he refers to "millions of longing souls who are praying for a united Church" for whom the pioneer had lifted "a banner of unity" as an "ensign of hope." Click here for full text.

1906 (about) - Dining hall is constructed by the North Beach Association (NBA). It will be used all summer by NBA residents until World War II. Campbell Park will never have a similar facility.

L A N D

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1907 (July 15) - Carrie Ellen Mears signs an option in Chicago giving Edward Scribner Ames the right to purchase a tract of land in Pentwater for $2,300. This date will be celebrated as the founding of Campbell Park -- named for Disciples founder Thomas CAMPBELL [1763-1854], his son Alexander CAMPBELL [1788-1866], or both (no relation to George Alexander Campbell). Image is topographic map of Campbell Park & vicinity. Dune at top of map is Tank Hill. Its treeless area is a blowout. Flat area just south of Tank Hill is the Campbell Park "Commons." Same features are visible on the satellite image on the right.

1907 (July 18) - Campbell Park founders Ames, Bushnell, Campbell, Fawley, Roach, and Wakeley meet at the City Club in Chicago, consider the option signed July 15 for the purchase of land from Carrie E. Mears, and agree for the Secretary and Treasurer to ask eleven or twelve "subscribers" for an "initial payment" of $100 each.

F I R S T . V I S I T S 1907? - It's lost to history when the Campbell Park founders first visited the undeveloped Campbell Park as a group -- or with their families. This old photo shows two founders pointing at undeveloped lots from the beach. Did they & their families first vacation here in 1906 or 1907 or 1908? My mother [1901-1991] was only six years old in 1907. She remembered her family's staying one summer in a rented house near the channel in the Village of Pentwater. She also remembered their living in a tent one summer on their newly acquired lot in Campbell Park. In March 2007, I wrote a five-page essay about my mother's lifelong association with Pentwater & Campbell Park. Click here to see the essay (in Word format).

F O U N D E R S - Photos of Campbell Park founders -- Edward Scribner AMES, Herbert Lockwood WILLETT, Charles Clayton MORRISON, George Alexander CAMPBELL & George B. FAWLEY.

1907 (August 6) - Campbell Park founders Ames, Bushnell, Campbell, Fawley, Gates, Wakeley, and Willett meet at the City Club in Chicago, agree "that the name of the resort be Campbell Park, agree "that the two elevations [tallest dunes] be named Willett Heights [Tank Hill] and Ames Heights [Tower Hill]," name five streets, and draw lots for eleven building sites of two lakefront lots each. James Harvey Garrison assists in the drawing of lots. The first site (closest to the village of Pentwater) is drawn by Charles Clayton Morrison. The eleven sites are allocated as follows:

(11) Rev. Herbert Lockwood WILLETT [1864-1944],
(10) Mary Logan COLEMAN [1880-1939],
(9) Arno L. ROACH,
(8) Carl C. BUSHNELL,
(7) Dr. Errett GATES [1870-1951],
(6) Rev. George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943],
(5) Dr. Edward Scribner AMES [1870-1958],
(4) Charles R. WAKELEY,
(3) George B. FAWLEY [1868-1959],
(2) Christopher COLEMAN,
(1) Rev. Charles Clayton MORRISON [1874-1966].

P R O M O T I O N

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1907 (or later?) - "Under the pines, on the singing sands, by the cool waters." Brochure proclaims that "The Campbell Park has been purchased by a group of Disciples mostly from Chicago, who wish to build modes summer homes for themselves, and have sought carefully a place where the greatest natural attractiveness can be secured at the least expense. The invigorating air, the superb beach, the cushioned walks, the fields of fern, the hills and dells all covered with the lofty pine, are charms to rest the overworked and bring one close to Nature's heart. Pentwater is a village of twelve hundred people. The stores, postoffice, dock and railway station are only fifteen minutes' walk from Campbell Park, yet are distant enough not to disburb its quiet. The Northern Michigan Transportation Company run their boats to Pentwater in a few hours from Chicago; and the Pere Marquette Railway has its terminus here..." The cover of the brochure depicts the "Missouri" (see 1904 above). This implies easy access from Chicago which is more comfortable than the competitive railroad. Right image is undated commercial postcard labeled "Baggage for North Beach Pentwater." Note Glendee Hotel in background.

P L A T

1907 (or later?) - Original plat of Campbell Park. Pasted inside the back cover of the brochure. (Colored many years later to show the ten double lots on which cottages will actually be constructed.) Fourteen-foot avenues are named for the following Disciples leaders: --Otis Asa BURGESS [1829-1882], preacher trained at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, and president of Disciples-related Butler College in Indianapolis, Indiana. --Isaac ERRETT [1820-1888], founding editor of The Christian Standard [1866] in Cleveland, Ohio, and president of the Disciples national convention [1875-1876]. --James Abram GARFIELD [1831- 1881], Disciples preacher, Union army general, president of Disciples-related Hiram College in Ohio, Congressman, Senator- elect, and assassinated 20th President of the United States. --James Harvey GARRISON [1842-1931] -- Union army colonel, founding editor of the Christian-Evangelist [1872], president of the Disciples national convention [1888], and founder of Garrison Park on Pentwater's South Beach -- but possibly also for his son Winfred Ernest GARRISON [1874-1969] -- Bethany student, Disciples historian, and professor at the University of Chicago. --William Kimbrough PENDLETON [1817-1899], first president of Bethany College after Alexander CAMPBELL, president of the Disciples national convention [1877], and husband of TWO Campbell daughters: Lavinia [1818-1846] and Clarinda [1821-1851]. --Alexander PROCTOR [1825-1900], Disciples preacher trained at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia. --Walter SCOTT [1796-1861], early Disciples preacher who popularized "the five-finger exercise." --Barton Warren STONE [1772-1844], Disciples founder who led the famous Cain Ridge Revival in August 1801 at Paris, Kentucky (near Lexington).

1908 - Caption of photo is "Schooner 'STARLIGHT' belonging to Captain W.H. Van Dyke." Website says, "On February 19, 1908 Captain Wallace [Henry Van Dyke] [1871-1936] bought from his father the schooner 'STARLlGHT' for $2,000.00. She now lies on the bottom of Pentwater Lake at the dock of Bill's Boat Livery. After Captain Wallace moved to Ludington [about 1915] she sunk lower with each passing year. Captain Wallace would come with his family back to Pentwater time after time to try and raise her. Emma would pack a picnic lunch and the children would play at the water's edge as Captain Wallace worked on the schooner, but it was to no avail. Finally, it was evident she was there to stay."

C H R I S T I A N . C E N T U R Y 1908 - Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] purchases the Christian Century for $1,500 and becomes its editor. He will remain editor for 39 years (until 1947), building "The Century" into what is today -- a widely read & highly respected weekly paper containing religious news & opinion.

1908 (About) - A short single lane road is constructed on relatively flat ground from Hancock Street (future US-31) to the western end of the Campbell Park "Commons" directly below the southernmost cottage sites. This is where all Campbell Park residents & delivery persons park their vehicles & start climbing on trails (right image) to reach the cottages (carrying their possessions or hauling them in hand carts). A building containing ten garages (one for each cottage) will be constructred in the Commons in the late 1940's but hardly ever used because garage doors swing inward, and cars soon become too long to fit. Left photo dates from 1925. Right two photos taken in 2006.

1908 - First cottage in Campbell Park is built by Mary Logan Coleman [1880-1939], neice of another founder, Christopher Coleman. She will marry Hugh T. Morrison [1877-1971] the same year. So the cottage will soon become known as the Morrison Cottage. When Campbell Park is incorporated in 1919, Hugh will be named a shareholder, not Mary. She will die in 1939, and Hugh will outlive her by 42 years & and outlive his older brother Charles Clayton Morrison by five years.

C O T T A G E

Begun about 1908 - "Argyle" (aka Campbell Cottage), Campbell Park, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Not built all at once as were other cottages in Campbell Park. The Campbell family pitched a tent on this site in 1907 or 1908, then constructed a one room, windowless "cottage" (aka "Dr. Campbell's Peanut Stand") onto which additional rooms were added over several years. Upper left image shows two children (thought to include Georgia May Campbell [1901-1991]) & two adults (probably George Alexander Campbell & Luna May Jameson Campbell) on bare sand in front of the one or two room cottage. Note pole holding open the board window of the "peanut stand." (A similarly primative one-room cottage built in 1909 has been moved to the Oceana County Historical Museum in Mears, Michigan.) Upper right photo shows the three oldest children about 1906 (GMC, EJC & RBC); lower right is Rosa Bell alone . /// Lower photo (made about 2000 before addition of a new deck) shows the cottage as it appeared ever since the front porch was enclosed in glass (in the 1920's?). Cottage named for birthplace of GAC's parents in Scotland.

1909 (Summer) - Two postcards showing Campbell Park. Both cards show the Coleman/Morrison cottage. The one on the left was mailed in 1909. The photo on the right (taken several years later after construction of boardwalks -- not the eventual, permanent boardwalk) shows the 3 northernmost cottages -- Willett, Morrison & Roach (Dune Crest). Note the bare sand dunes (now forested). Reverse side of the left postcard bears message handwritten by Rosa Bell Campbell (age 15).

1909 (December 1) - Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] gives up his preferred building lot in Campbell Park. He will, however, be a frequent visitor to the less conveniently located cottage of his brother Hugh T. Morrison [1877-1971] over the years to come. In 1948, Hugh will sign a power of attorney (on Christian Century letterhead) giving "CC" the right to exercise his rights as PHA shareholder.

October 1909 - Centennial of the Disciples of Christ draws 50,000 to a Centennial Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (nearest large city to Washington County, Pennsylvania, & Bethany, West Virginia). Its theme is "The Union of All Believers." James Harvey Garrison is keynote speker.  The convention is preceeded by a vigorous debate over the issue of "higher criticism of the Bible" and whether or not its leading proponent, Herbert Lockwood Willett [1864-1944], should be allowed to speak. The Christian Century of Chicago [newly edited by Charles Clayton Morrison] strongly supports Willett [image], and the Christian Standard of Cincinnati strongly opposes him. In the end, Willett is allowed speak. A history & description of the Disciples of Christ published for the Centennial Convention is still in the Campbell Cottage at Pentwater.

1910 (February 21) - Campbell Park leaders vote to contract for the construction of a walk on the front (beach) side of their cottages. A "1188-foot" boardwalk & steps to the beach at its south end will be built later the same year. Images shows south end of the boardwalk & steps to the beach (photographed about 100 years after their construction).

1910 - "A group of seven ladies [with an unusually well dressed ferry man] posing on the Pentwater ferry. The Pentwater Bedstead Factory can be seen in the background." Also Pentwater's wooden pier during "a North gale." Both photos were taken in 1910. The ferry will last another 16 years and be replaced a bridge in 1926. The wooden pier & channel walls will also be replaced with concrete in the early 20th century.

June 14-23, 1910 - World Missionary Conference, Assembly Hall of the United Free Church of Scotland, Edinburgh (Scotland). Also called the Edinburgh Missionary Conference. Attended by 1,200 representatives of all major Protestant denominations & missionary societies, predominantly from North America & Northern Europe. Seen as both the culmination of 19th century Protestant Christian missions and the formal beginning of the modern Protestant Christian ecumenical movement. Lord Alfred Balfour [1848-1932] of the Church of Scotland was conference president. Conference proceedings were chaired by John R. Mott [1865-1955], an American Methodist layperson & leader of both the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions and the World Student Christian Federation. /// Conference attended by American Disciple Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] who campaigned for what would become the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1937. (The WCC was organized in 1948 (see below). In 1949 Morrison and 35 other church leaders proposed the so-called "Greenwich" or "Morrison" plan for a united Protestant church.) Church leaders will agree in 1937 to establish a World Council of Churches (WCC), based on a merger of the Faith & Order Movement and Life & Work Movement organisations. Its official establishment was deferred with the outbreak of World War II until August 23, 1948. Delegates of 147 churches assembled in Amsterdam to merge the Faith & Order Movement and Life & Work Movement. Subsequent mergers were with the International Missionary Council in 1961 and the World Council of Christian Education, with its roots in the 18th century Sunday School movement, in 1971. Also attended by American George Sherwood Eddy [1871-1963], "a young man of wealth who is supporting himself in mission work in India."

1910 - Charles Clayton Morrison attends the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, the "first major ecumentical movement of the century" (according to the New York Times). Morrison campaigns for what will become the World Council of Churches. The conference is also attended by George Sherwood Eddy, "a young man of wealth who is supporting himself in mission work in India

1910 (September 8) - "The Kellogg", a large scow (barge), spills 900 tons of massive boulders (each 3-12 tons) off Pentwater during a storm with no loss of life. The hull will be towed to Muskegon & scraped. Originally named the "A.R. Kellogg", the scow was constructed by Thomas Rice Lyon in Ludington in 1882 along with two others (the "Isaac Brown" & the "O.I. Jacobus") to haul lumber to Chicago.

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1912 - Idlewild Resort Company (IRC) begins to develop a resort community for African-Americans about 30 miles East of Pentwater. The resort will florish from the 1920's to the 1960's, attracting such headliners as Louis Armstrong, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Joe Louis, and Stevie Wonder. "Black Eden, the Idlewild Community" will be published in 2002.

1912 (November 23) - A sudden storm forces all fishing boats to return to Pentwater.  The "Two Brothers," the only steam-powered tug, waits for the gas-powered tugs to reach safety. Then, as it tries to enter the channel, waves dash it against the pier drowning all three crew members, including the father & father-in-law of Campbell Park caretaker August (Augie) Christensen.  (This story will be related to Georgia May Campbell Lollis & Ted Lollis by former Campbell Park caretaker Max Corey in February 1963.)  Pentwater's fishing fleet totals fourteen tugs in 1914.  Click here for a partial list of fishing tugs owned or operated in Pentwater. Upper left image shows typical Lake Michigan fishing tug of that time. Upper right image shows how gillnets work in Lake Michigan. Lower left image shows fish house between pier & canning factory (visible in right background). Lower right image shows gillnets on drying racks in Pentwater.

1913 (November 7-10) - "Big Blow," "Freshwater Fury" or "White Hurricane." "The deadliest and most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes. Killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships & stranded 19 others."

1913 - Publication of "Michigan Summer Resorts" by Pere Marquette Railroad, Passenger Department, Detroit, 1913 edition. "A guide to the summering places in the lake and river region of the State of Michigan." Entry for Pentwater says, "An active Boosters' Club has been organized in Pentwater which is proving an excellent thing in a business way... The steamer Chequamegon, this season, will run on Lake Michigan between Pentwater and Ludington and Manistee." /// Pentwater accomodations are Oceana Beach Club House ("Not a public hotel, but when not fully occupied guests can get accomodations. Quiet, homelike resort."), Hotel Arbor Rest ("in the Village of Pentwater"), Cedar Banks Resort ("cottages overlooking Lake Michigan"), Pentwater Beach (cottages), Bass Lake Hotel ("cottages for rent, log cabin with fireplace"), and Glendee Hotel ("electric lights, steam heated, all outside rooms"). /// From Detroit Free Press, 9 Jun, 1901: "AROUND CAPE HORN. STR CHEQUAMEGON LEAVES LAKES FOR CALIFORNIA. Ashland, June 8. - The steamer Chequamegon, of Ashland, now running between Milwaukee and White Fish bay, will leave for Los Angeles the latter part of this month. Besides the owner, Louis Cartier, a few invited guests will take the trip. Coaling stations have been picked out on the South American coasts, and the expenses of the trip are figured at $800. The Chequamegon was built at Manitowoc in 1893 for service between Ashland and the Apostle Islands. She is 101 feet long and 22 feet beam. After reaching southern California the Chequamegon will run to the Catalina Islands. Her long trip around Cape Horn will be watched with great interest."

N E W S P A P E R

1913-1969? - Swift Lathers [1889-1970] publishes The Mears Newz, "The World's Smallest Newspaper," read by generations of Pentwater folks. Theme of every issue: "______ is ripe in the land of Mears." "When circulation hit 2,740, Swift made himself immortal among editors by voluntarily cutting the list in half - literally - with a pair of scissors employed at both ends. Everybody whose name began with a letter up to D or after S stopped getting The Mears Newz." Lathers took up the cause of migrant workers, particularly Mexicans, who toiled in the fruit & vegetable belt in western Michigan. He scored churches which did not encourage them to attend services & denounced the lack of proper housing conditions by growers. Lathers also constructed Dune Forest Village, a miniature town among sand dunes near Silver Lake. ("Sand & vandals dismantled the village by the mid-1950's, and Swift’s son started Bill’s Dune Rides.") Lathers' home in Mears is now the museum of the Oceana County Historical Society. Click here for an index of some issues.

1914 - "James Harvey Garrison’s Christian Publishing Company [in St. Louis, Missouri] is purchased by [lumber baron & philanthropist] R.A. Long [1850-1934], who then establishes a non-profit corporation, the Christian Board of Publication as the publishing house of the Disciples of Christ.".

H O T E L 1914 - Nickerson Inn, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). On prominent dune immediately behind Charles Mears State Park. Pentwater's premier summer hotel for 93 years, but burned down on May 21, 2007. Right image is small building on the grounds near Lowell Street; it survived the fire. /// Is this the same site as the Lake View Hotel in 1890 (qv)?

S U M M E R . C O L O N Y 1915 - Bass Lake Improvement Association is created by Bass Lake cottage owners. The association will maintain roads, obtain electric power & build a dam [middle image] on the Lake Michigan outlet to regulate the level of Bass Lake. The Bass Lake outlet [right image] is a frequent destination for walks on the beach from Campbell Park.

1916 (July 28) - Tennis court is built in Campbell Park on the beach in front of the Willett cottage. Shifting sand will be removed each spring until 1922 when the sand is too deep & the tennis court is abandoned.

1916 - Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] quietly begins to call the Christian Century "undenominational," thus gradually ending its direct affiliation with the Disciples of Christ.

C O T T A G E 1917-1918 - Construction of the McVoy Cottage, between Campbell Park & Charles Mears State Park, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Reputed to be the biggest summer cottage in Pentwater. Owned by Marie Celeste McVoy Holden [1900-1974], wife of plumbing heir & Wisconsin governor Walter J. Kohler, Jr. [1904-1976]. Alleged scene of an "automatic writing" incident in the 1960's. Site of annual Jim Hoerr Family Vacation since 1991; right image shows 20th anniversary vacation in 2010.

B I O G R A P H Y 1918 - "An exceptionally fine preacher" - A contemporary biography of George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943] written at age 49 just as he starts a 20-year ministry at Union Avenue Christian Church ("the church with the revolving cross") in St. Louis, Missouri. This biography was put on-line by the Rev. James L. McMillan who is researching the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement at the University of Illinois. You can tell that right photo was taken in summer because GAS is holding a straw hat.

G U I D E . B O O K 1918 - The Automobile Blue Book ("Standard Road Guide of America"), volume 4, describes Pentwater as follows: "Pentwater, Mich. (pop. 1,129, alt. 585 ft.), lies between Lakes Michigan and Pentwater, the latter traversed by the West Michigan Pike, and contiguous to one of the most magnificant bathing beaches on the Great Lakes. The summer camp at Purdue University is located here; also a United States coast guard station. Within a radius of two miles are Campbell park, Garrison park, Oceana beach, Pentwater beach, and Bass lake. The town has canning industries and is a fruit shipping port." There are two advertisements: (1) "Tebbet's Garage, PENTWATER, MICHIGAN" Night and Day Service. Fireproof Storage. Accessories : : Phone 433" and (2) "VERBECK TAVERN --- Pentwater's Best. Right on the Pike, PENTWATER, MICH. American plan, $2.50 and $3.00. Maryland fried chicken and planked fish (in season) our specialty. Phone your special orders ahead. Free Auto Storage. Open the year 'round." /// Lower left image shows Verbeck Tavern, Maple Garage, Glendee Hotel & Methodist Church. Lower right image apparently shows site of Glendee Hotel & church with different steeple. /// "The Imus House was occupied a couple of years by the Civil Engineering class of Purdue University, who really livened up the town for at least one summer." /// "The next place of interest was the Clendee Hotel. So many people are inclined to spell the Hotel name with the letter 'G,' but every picture of the building I have, shows the name to begin with the letter 'C.' Our family would go there on an occasional Sunday for dinner. It was always the same menu, chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, gravy and green peas and usually vanilla ice cream for dessert." -- From Robert J. O'Brien, Jr. (2003).

S T A T E . P A R K 1919 - "Carrie E. Mears donates 25 acres of land for park purposes [at Silver Lake]. The park's boundary will be dedicated in 1951 & a master plan officially approved in 1964. Today, Silver Lake State Park is an almost 3,000-acre park in Oceana County including both dune country & acres of mature forest. The dune ridges & valleys are mostly windblown sand & lack trees, scrub brush & dune grass. The dune area is sometimes compared to a desert... The park contains more than four miles of Lake Michigan shoreline & boasts a large sandy beach. Nearly 2,000 acres of sand dunes are available for exploration & hiking. One of the park's biggest draws is the 450-acre off-road vehicle area."

1919 (August 2) - Pentwater Heights Association (PHA) by-laws are adopted at the annual shareholders meeting.

1919 (August 5) - Pentwater Heights Association (PHA) is incorporated as the legal form of Campbell Park. Six shareholders own ten shares each:

--George A. Campbell, 5411 Vernon Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
--Carl C. Bushnell, 1433 Rascher Ave., Chicago, Ill.
--George B. Fawley, 145 S. East Ave., Oak Park, Ill.
--Herbert L. Willett, 6119 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, Ill.
--H. T. Morrison, 115 W. Miller St., Springfield, Ill.
--Edward S. Ames, 5733 Kimbark Ave., Chicago, Ill.

I N D I A N S & G Y P S I E S - Early 20th Century - The hill where Fred Green lived...on old M-11 (the old tarvy road) [between Long Bridge & Pentwater] was often occupied by Indians & Gypsies who would spend a week or so there. The Indians picked berries & made baskets which they took into town and traded for the basics they needed, such as flour, sugar, salt & other items. They sometimes sold baskets filled with berries & sometimes only berries or baskets separately. When the Gypsies were present, every kid in town took off for home because it was often said that the Gypsies stole kids and took them away. I can remember that my mother removed any clothing on a clothes line because the Gypsies, at times, steal clothes. Their attire was really quite colorful, reds, yellows & greens were very common, and most of the women wore some sort of colorful headdress. Many of them would tell fortunes. /// Fred Green had a Dodge automobile which was called a cabriolet back then, we now know them as convertibles. He used to come into town & buy groceries from Dad who had the old Sands grocery store which he purchased from G.T. Sands. It is now the Community House & village & township offices building." -- From Robert J. O'Brien, Jr. (2003). /// Image shows me on Tank Hill in Campbell Park about 1945. (Note Pearl Harbor shirt.) I am holding a basket which my mother or her family purchased from Indians in Pentwater sometime about 1910-1925.

F I R E 1920 or 1921 -- Mercantile store of G.T. Sands & Maxwell burns down. It is not replaced, thus leaving a vacant lot on the north side of the Village/Township Hall which is now Bell Park (right image). Firefighters attack the fire from the roof of the Village Hall. PFD website says both 1920 & 1921.

S T A T E . P A R K 1920 or 1923 - Carrie Mears, daughter & heir of Charles Mears [1814-1895], deeds 600 feet of beach north of the Pentwater channel to the State of Michigan. This will become Lake Shore Park (now Charles Mears State Park). Left two images are undated postcards showing bath house on the beach. Note pilings of old wooden pier on right side of both images.

1921 (about) -- James Harvey Garrison sells "The Pioneer," his cottage in Garrison Park, to Harry G. Raschbacher, a civil engineer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The cottage is still owned by the Raschbacher family.

1923 – University Church of the Disciples of Christ moves to its new location on the corner of East 57th Street & University Avenue, Hyde Park, Chicago (next to Disciples Divinity House). Edward Scribner Ames is its pastor.

1924 -- Lighthouse at entrance to Ludington harbor is constructed, replacing a 1871 light station. This light is visible from Campbell Park.

1925 - Hart Lake, Hart, Michigan (USA). Dam across Pentwater River creates lake & hydro power. Monument reads, "Historical Achievement. Dedicated to the men who made Hart Hydro Electic Power Plant and Hart Lake possible for the people of Hart in the year 1925." Dam will be breeched by a storm in 1986 flooding the Pentwater River valley.

August 18-30, 1925 - First Universal Christian Conference on Life & Work, Stockholm, (Sweden). The conference is "designed to deal with the relationship between Christ & economics, industry, social and moral problems, international relations and education." The leader of the Life and Work movement is Nathan Soderblom [1866-1931], professor of the history of religions in Leipzig (Germany) & archbishop of Uppsala (Sweden). He will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930. Is there ever a 2nd conference of this name? /// Attended by a small group of American Disciples led by George Sherwood Eddy [1871-1963] (former missionary, YMCA official, world traveller & popular lecturer -- lower image). Members of his group include Peter Ainslie [1867-1934] (founder & pastor of the Christian Temple in Baltimore, Maryland, & a famous advocate of Christian unity), Mary Elizabeth Weisel (Ainslie's bride), George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] of St. Louis, Missouri (my grandfather) & Luna May Jameson Campbell (my grandmother).

1925 - Dr. & Mrs. George Alexander Campbell visit Europe as members of a group led by George Sherwood Eddy, a former missionary, YMCA official, world traveller & popular lecturer. The Eddy group attends the first Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work in Stockholm, Sweden, August 18-30. The conference is "designed to deal with the relationship between Christ and economics, industry, social and moral problems, international relations and education." The leader of the Life and Work movement is Nathan Söderblom [1866-1931], professor of the history of religions in Leipzig, Germany, and archbishop of Uppsala. He will receive the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1930. In the small group of Disciples attending the conference are Peter Ainslie [1867-1934] and his bride Mary Elizabeth Weisel. Founder and pastor of the Christian Temple in Baltimore, Maryland, Ainslie is a famous advocate of Christian unity. A Peter Ainslie Lecture on Christian Unity will be given in August 2001 during the celebration of the bicentennial of the Great Revival at Cane Ridge, Kentucky. /// Click here to read Eddy's report ("With Our Soldiers in France") about his visit to US troops during World War I.

1925 - Dr. & Mrs. George Alexander Campbell visit Scotland. Passport photo at far left. Using letters received in Manitoba (Canada) in the 1880's, they make contact with cousins living in Furnace & Kenmore (right image) on Loch Fyne, Argyll. Cousin John Campbell (a quarrymann in Furnace) takes them to the communal tenancy of Auchindrain (on the estate of the Duke of Argyll) and shows them deserted structures which he says are "the seat of us Campbells." May takes these two snapshots which still hang in Campbell Cottage in Pentwater. Note the discolored thatch (indicating neglect), and the wooden gate and absence of bracken (indicating recent grazing). Auchindrain is now an open-air museum of rural life, the gate has long since rotted away, and bracken covers the ground.

1926 - National highway number designation. Michigan route M-11 through Pentwater is renamed US Route 31 (US-31) -- thick red line on map. US-31 connects Mobile, Alabama, via Nashville, Tennessee, & Indianapolis, Indiana, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. As did M-11, US-31 follows Sixth & Hancock Streets (now called US-31 Business Route). Since 1926, US-31 for through traffic has been rerouted twice to by-pass Pentwater -- first to what is now Oceana Drive (thin black line with curve) -- most recently to the divided expressway even closer to Pentwater (thick purple line). The expressway (right image) received an award c.2000 for friendly conformation to the landscape.

1926 - Dr. Edward Scribner Ames visits Europe & the Holy Land as a member of a group led by H. D. Dunning, "a veteran traveler and guide" from Brookline, Massachusetts. The trip is a prize for obtaining the most new subscriptions to the Christian Century won by a group of women in Dr. Ames' church.

S W I N G I N G . B R I D G E 1926-1949 - Swinging bridge. "Replaces the ferry. A former railroad bridge moved from Elk Rapids & given to the village by the Pere Marquette Railway Company. Its installation across the channel is celebrated as the village's greatest civic improvement of the 20th century. It requires a day & a night attendant to let water traffic in and out of the harbor. A favorite pastime was to dive off the center supports of the bridge when it was in the closed position. A diving board will be installed for the purpose. Becomes the village's most expensive public utility, needing constant repair to keep it in service. In the early 1950's [sic], the bridge will be swung open for the last time & removed from the channel." Note Sears & Nichols Canning Factory in background of left image. Each end of the bridge site is now a small park (right image) on the interrupted Bridge Street (sic). See entry for 1948.

1926 - Swinging bridge is built across the channel to replace "the old ferry scow" which had operated since 1858. The "new" bridge is a former railroad bridge moved from Elk Rapids and given to the village by the Pere Marquette Railway Company. In 1948, after 22 years of service, it will be declared unsafe and removed but NOT replaced.

1928 (May 4) - The White Elephant is destroyed by fire, leaving a ruin in the center of Pentwater. Corners of the gigantic building will be restored as an office building and a movie theater (which is now the "Hancock Building"). The empty center of the site will become the Village Green where a band concert is held every Thursday evening in summer.

1928 - Gerber Products Company, Fremont, Michigan (USA). "The Gerber story, by most accounts, began in 1928 on the production lines of the Fremont Canning Company. Gerber has continued to grow throughout the years. Nearly 190 food products are now labeled in 16 languages and distributed to 80 countries. Always dedicated to the health of its young consumers, Gerber has maintained one of the world's largest private research facilities dedicated exclusively to infant nutrition." 1928 – Building of Disciples Divinity House of Chicago is completed.

About 1930-1960 - Information Booth, now at Snug Harbor Marina & in need of restoration. According to the Snug Harbor website, this is the "turn of the century information booth from the Pere Marquette Railroad Co. station" (unused after 1932). Maybe so, but it stood for many years on Hancock Street (US-31) at what is now the village green. A sign over the portico read "Chamber of Commerce," and Hester Dempsy worked there every summer dispensing tourist & cottage rental information, local advice & a variety of other community services.

1930's "Jensens Tourist Lunchroom Bakery & Rooming House," opposite the information booth on US-31, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Image is postcard labled "TOURIST LUNCH ROOM - A GOOD PLACE TO EAT." Evidence of tourism's growing impact on Pentwater. At this time, US Highway 31 winds around Pentwater Lake and uses Hancock Street to pass directly through the business section of the village. This is "the bakery" well known to everyone who ever lived in Pentwater during the 1940's, 1950's & 1960's. The modern image on the right shows that "the bakery" has become "Our Gallery," and Balfour's Grocery next door has become "Avenue on the Green."

1930 (August) - Pentwater community center (village office building) is dedicated on the site where the Sands & Maxwell store burned down. In addition to village offices, the building will house the Pentwater Library for many years. The Pentwater Museum is still in its basement (entrance from alley).

1930 - Mac Wood's Dune Rides begin at Flora-Dale Resort on Silver Lake near Mears, Michigan (USA). Taking the 40-minute ride soon becomes a summer tradition for generations of Campbell Park residents. Left image shows Malcolm H. (Mac) Wood driving a 1934 Ford "Dune Buggy." Right image shows four modern "scooters" stopped (temporarily) beside Lake Michigan. Flora-Dale Resort closed in 1994, but Mac Wood's Dune Rides continue to this day!

1930 - Accompanied by their daughter Mary Evalyn (age 18), Dr. & Mrs. George Alexander Campbell visit the United Kingdom as representatives of the Disciples of Christ to the convention of the British Churches of Christ in Leeds (England) on August 4-8, 1930. At Inverary Castle (Scotland), they call on Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll (Chief of Clan Campbell), & his sister. Tea is served outdoors on a castle walk (same as in photo?). While the adults converse, Mary Evalyn watches rats scamper in & out of the castle moat. When she marries architect Jim Auer in 1934, he creates six copies of the duke's coat of arms (right image) -- one for each sibling and one for Campbell Cottage in Pentwater.

1931 - "Chores and the Alter" is written by George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943] and published by the Bethany Press, St. Louis, Missouri (242 pages).

1931 - Bernadotte Everly Schmitt [1886-1969], future son-in-law of Ed & Mable Ames, wins the Pulitzer Prize in history for "The Coming of the War 1914." (See 1960 below.) Right image show's Schmitt's "England and Germany, 1740-1914" (1918). Schmitt married Damaris Kathryn Ames [1901-1985] on November 22, 1939, in Chicago. Mrs. Schmitt donated his papers to the University of Tennessee in June 1970.

1932 - Mary Evalyn Campbell [1912-1999] makes a series of oil paintings. Three are still in the Campbell Cottage: Lake Michigan from Campbell Park, a dredge in the channel, and a cottage garden near the channel.

1932 - The Big Washout occurs near King's Canyon between Bass Lake and Ludington. Suddenly washed into Lake Michigan, South Lakeshore Drive will be rebuilt to curve around the washout. The curve is still there (just North of Chauvez Road), but the spectacular "canyon" created by the washout is now obscured by trees.

1932 or 1933 - Pere Marquette Rairoad ends service in Pentwater after motor vehicles become competitive. Passenger service actually ended in 1925. The same rail line will continue to serve Hart for many more years, but it will be abandoned in 1982 and converted into the Hart-Montague Bicycle Trail State Park. Pentwater will have frequent bus service for many years, but that too is now long gone.

C O N V E N T I O N 1932 (October 15) - George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] is elected President of the International Convention of the Disciples of Christ in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the same convention, Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] is named one of four Disciples members of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and Edgar DeWitt Jones [1876-1956] -- a frequent visitor to Campbell Park (lower image) -- is reelected president of the Association for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

C O N V E N T I O N 1933 - George Alexander Campbell [1869-1943] presides over the International Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This the first Disciples convention in Pittsburgh since the Centennial Convention in 1909 (qv). Afterwards Herbert Lockwood Willett [1864-1944] delivers an address at the grave of Archibald McLean [1849-1920] in "God's Little Acre," the Campbell Cemetery in Bethany, West Virigina. "Nothing finer was heard in Pittsburgh," according to GAC. McLean was born in Prince Edward Island (Canada), was 4th president of Bethany College, and headed the Foreign Christian Missionary Society for 39 years.

M E E T I N G Summer 1934 - Posed photo of Robert Alexander Campbell [1904-1986] introducing financee Rachel Catherine Davis [1908-1993] to his parents, Rev. George Alexander Campbell & Luna May Jameson Campbell, at their cottage in Campbell Park. Note cottage (upper left) & cobble stone steps leading from the cottage down to the boardwalk (out of sight to the right). Rev. Campbell will marry the couple December 27, 1934, at Rachel's home in Columbus, Ohio. RAC's four siblings already married in 1919 (RBC), 1922 (EJC), 1933 (GMC) & November 1934 (MEC). /// Right image is tree on Campbell Park's "Tank Hill." Both photos remain in Campbell Cottage.

Y A C H T . C L U B . & . B O A T . L I V R Y 1935 - Pentwater Yacht Club, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Pentwater Boat Livery -- also known as Popps -- will remain for many years just north of the club (right 2 images), but it is no longer there (as shown by the colored image). Note 1883 Masonic building on Hancock Street in background of both images of the club. Third image (showing apparent yacht club members watching race from the boat livry) is a blow-up of the first image.

1936 - The sea lamprey is first observed in Lake Michigan. This eel-like predator with rasp-like teeth will victimize lake trout, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish & burbot. By the mid 1950's, the lamprey will all but eliminate the native population of lake trout & significantly reduce populations of other species. In later years, the lamprey will be brought under control by treating the steams in which it spawns.

1938 - Manistee National Forest is created East of Pentwater & Ludington.

R E T I R E M E N T 1938 - George Alexander Campbell retires after 20 years as pastor of the Union Avenue Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Images show last family gathering in the church parsonage, 2 Windemere Place, St. Louis, on Christmas Day 1937. All five children & their spouses are shown (except one husband who took each photo), plus seven grandchildren. These photos hang in the Campbell Cottage in Pentwater, Michigan.

1938 - Seiche is seen at Campbell Park by Rosabelle CAMPBELL McCartney & her 3-year old daughter Jean McCARTNEY: "Suddenly in the quiet lake she saw...a 'terrifying white horse of a wave'... Grabbing the child, she ran for all she was worth [and] barely got onto the beach steps over 100 feet away when the giant wave...splashed high against the steps where she stood trembling with little Jean."

A U T O G R A P H 1938 (April 13) - "VAN METER AMES [son of Ed & Mable Ames]. American philosopher noted for his writing on aesthetics thanks someone for "an aesthetic experience." Autograph Note signed: "In appreciation of an/aesthetic experience/Van Meter Ames/13 April 1939", 5½x2½ slip. Van Meter Ames (1898-1985) taught philosophy at several American universities, chairing the Department at the University of Cincinnati, and in France and Japan. He wrote several books in his discipline, including Aesthetics of the Novel (1928), Proust and Santayana: the Aesthetic Way of Life (1937), Zen and American Thought (1962) and To Find the Simple Things (1978). In 1976, the American Humanist Society named him Humanist Fellow for Outstanding Contribution to Humanist Thought in Ethics & Aesthetics."

D E A T H 1940 (March 10) - "She died into glory as the stars die into the sunrise." - Luna May JAMESON Campbell dies in St. Louis, Missouri.  An appreciation is written by her husband, George Alexander CAMPBELL, and published in the Christian-Evangelist, of which he is acting editor.

R E T I R E M E N T 1940 - Edward Scribner Ames retires as pastor of the University Church in Chicago, Illinois.

About 1940 - Lenert Aircraft Company, south end of Hancock Street. Finished airplanes use frozen Pentwater Lake as a runway. "The Middlesex Brick & Tile Company used the peninsula in the late 1890's to load its product on double masted schooners. After the decline of the lumber industry, the original [building], made of Pentwater brick, served as a furniture company & then a small aircraft plant. Snug Harbor Marina was established [about 1960]. During one winter, retaining walls were constructed around the peninsula. During another, T-docks & fuel dispensers were constructed near the SE end. During the winter of 1958, the tower from the abandoned Coast Guard Station from the north channel wall was hauled over the frozen ice to become the trademark symbol of Snug Harbor Marina [as seen in both images]. During another winter, the turn of the century information booth from the Pere Marquette Railroad Co. station was moved to the property. During the Spring of 2003, the hull of one schooner that burned to the waterline & was scuttled about the turn of the century was found off the Southeast T-docks."

1940 (November 11) - The Great Armistice Day Storm is witnessed by John McCormack from his cottage in Campbell Park. The storm sinks the "Anna C. Minch" [left image] about a mile from South Beach, runs the "Novadock" & "William C. Davok" aground near Little Point Sable, and runs the "City of Flint #32" aground just outside the breakwater at Ludington. For days "the Campbell Park beach is awash with lifeboats, life rafts, planks, oats, bedding & bodies." The "Novadock" will be visible from Campbell Park for many years thereafter. An historical marker will be erected in Ludington in 1971 referring to the "Armistice Day Storm." Another will be erected in Pentwater in 1986 referring to the "Veterans' Day Storm." (The searchable database of Great Lakes shipwreaks lists 12 "total loss" wreaks near Pentwater between 1854 and 1947.)

1941 (Spring) - Topping Cottage is hit by lighting and burns to the ground just north of Campbell Park. The nearby "Yellow Cottage" also burns. Pentwater firefighters save neighboring cottages. Luckily, none of Campbell Park's ten cottages has ever burned.

1941 - "Michigan: A Guide to the Wolverine State" is published by the Michigan Writers' Project to employ out-of-work writers. A 17-line entry says, "PENTWATER (585 alt., 772 pop.), on the Pentwater River, is a busy port from which are shipped cherries, apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, currants, rasberries, and strawberries. Mennonites, whose stringent rules as to dress and conduct are still observed by older members, have had much to do with the successful development of the fruit industry here... The CHARLES MEARS STATE PARK is a lightly wooded 15-acre campground, on the shore of Lake Michigan within the village limits." Following entries for HART, MEARS (Mears Newz) & SILVER LAKE STATE PARK on SILVER LAKE. "An almost continuous series of parks is being developed along the dunes between this point and Pentwater."

1941 - Publication of "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling Clancey Holling [1900-1973], classic story of a carved Indian boy in a canoe who drifts throughout the Great Lakes (including the Pentwater shore) until he reaches the ocean.

1941 - Main Event Restaurant, US-31BR, near Bass Lake, Michigan (USA). Now for sale. "Great Investment potential, with many income opportunities. Buildings boast almost 10,000 square feet of commercial, rental & storage area. Year round family Restaurant including equipment & good will available to qualified buyer. Floor plans, rental information, survey & site plans available. Just outside beautiful downtown Pentwater. It is 1/2 miles west of US 31 exit."

1941 - "Christian Worship: A Hymnal" is edited by a Joint Committee of the Disciples of Christ & the Northern Baptist Convention & published by both churches (542 pages). George Alexander Campbell had been the Disciples co-chair of the Joint Committee until he suffered a stroke in 1940.

1942 - Compilation of "Pentwater 1853-1942" by Florence R. Schrumpf (95 pages). My copy of this seminal work about Pentwater history was reproduced & placed in a binder by the Hart Journal Press in 1965.

1942 - Publication of "The Christian and the War" by pacifist Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] (Chicago: Willett, Clark). "In the 1930's, Morrison, Harry Emerson Fosdick & John Haynes Holmes urged the US to stay out of World War II, whereas Reinhold Neibuhr, Karl Barth & Stephen S. Wise argued on the interventionist side." /// Morrison writes at least eight other books: The unfinished Reformation, Can Protestantism Win America?, Hymns of the United church, The social gospel & the Christian cultus, What is Christianity? (the Lyman Beecher Lectures for 1939 at Yale), The Outlawry of War: A Constructive Policy for World Peace (1927), The meaning of baptism, and The Unfinished Reformation. /// NB: Cannot find more mature photo of Morrison on-line.

1943 (July) - "The Disciples of Christ", a series of three lectures, is given by Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958] to the annual convention of the Disciples of Christ of Northern Calfornia in San Jose. The lectures will be published as a pamphlet (46 pages). His previous works include "The Psychology of Religious Experience," "The Divinity of Christ," "Religion," "Letters to God and the Devil," and "The New Orthodoxy."

1943 (about) - Harald Schade builds a wooden boat at Dune Crest.  Schade is the Danish husband of Adelaide Ames [1905-c1975], daughter of Ed & Mable Ames. The boat fills most of the front porch, part of which has to be removed in order to slide the boat to the lake. Dune Crest is the highest of Campbell Park's ten cottages. It belonged to the Ames family from 1936 until 1944 when it was puchased by the Neilson family of St. Louis, Missouri. Image is the view from Dune Crest.

1943 (August 17) - "He passed away this evening just as the sun set in a glorious glowing sky." - George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943] dies at "Argyle," his cottage in Campbell Park.  An appreciation will be written by his friend Edward Scribner AMES & published in "The Scroll" of the Campbell Institute.

1944 - "Friends Are My Story," the autobiography of George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943], is edited by his second daughter Georgia May CAMPBELL Lollis [1901-1991] and published posthumously by the Bethany Press, St. Louis, Missouri (253 pages). The last chapter is about Pentwater. Click here to read the full text.

1944 (March 28) - Herbert Lockwood Willett [1864-1944] dies in Winter Park, Florida. He taught a class on Monday and was scheduled to lecture Tuesday evening on "Great Books of the Bible" but dies that morning. The Christian Century devotes its lead editorial to him in its issue dated April 12. A noted Biblical scholar, Willett was the first minister of the University Church in Chicago and founder and dean of the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago, and its library is named for him. The Willett cottage is inherited by his son, Robert Lockwood Willett [1895-1973], business manager of the Christian Century.

About 1945 - Plaque in memory of Rev. George Alexander Campbell, Union Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), St. Louis, Missouri, where GAC was minister from 1918 to 1938. It was sculpted by his third daughter Mary Evalyn Campbell Auer Wulff [1912-1999]. Right image is her statue of Jesus at St. James AME Church in St. Louis. Both images were posted to flickr by Erica Wulff.

1945 - George Alexander Campbell Chapel, Union Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), St. Louis, Missouri (USA). Chapel honors the the 20-year pastorate of George Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943]. It contains a "stained glass window symbolizing Dr. Campbell’s vision of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The window was designed and produced in the New York studio of Emil Frey [sic]." This quote from the UACC website must refer to the St. Louis firm of Emil Frei.

1946 (May 4) - Pentwater fish tug Pal and its crew are lost in a fire and explosion while lifting nets in Lake Michigan. The Pal made rescues during the 1940 Armistice Day storm. Click here for a partial list of Pentwater fish tugs.

1947 - Publication of "Andre Gide" by Van Meter Ames. "Ames talks about Gide as a humanist of the scientific type, and stresses the relation between a scientific outlook and liberal political views. The cover was designed by Alvin Lustig [1915-1955], who along with Saul Bass, was a charter member of the The Los Angeles Society for Contemporary Designers. Lustig was known for his modern, graphic design, as well as interiors & signage he designed for Phillip Johnson."

1947 - Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] retires at age 73 after editing the Christian Century for 39 years. He will live 19 years in retirement.

1948 - After 22 years of service, the Swinging bridge across the channel is declared unsafe and removed but NOT replaced, thus isolating South Beach from the rest of Pentwater. The railroad is gone, commercial fishing has declined, and there are few if any businesses on that side of Pentwater Lake. The cost of replacing the bridge would be considerable. And South Beach residents (including cottage owners in Oceana Beach & Garrison Park) presumably prefer their isolation. Driving across the bridge used to take a minute or two. Now residents must drive entirely around Pentwater Lake via the so-called Long Bridge at the marshy upper end of the lake. Both ends of the former bridge are now small municipal parks (as seen in the left two images).

1948 - Road to Campbell Park cottages is proposed by Dr. and Mrs. Charles Clayton Morrison. (The Morrison & Willett cottages are the farthest from the garage area.) The proposal will be voted down by PHA shareholders. According to Robert Alexander Campbell, "the [road] issue [will] split the place in two [for more than a decade]."

1948 (September 22) - Hugh T. Morrison [1877-1971] signs a power of attorney (on Christian Century letterhead) giving his brother Charles Clayton Morrison [1874-1966] all of his rights as a PHA shareholder. C.C. Morrison has been a frequent visitor to his brother's cottage in Campbell Park ever since he gave up his own building site in 1909.

1948 (September 11) - Death of George Alexander Campbell II [1929-1948], USMA cadet (pleeb), in a swimming accident during summer camp at the US Military Academy, West Point, NY. His sister Jane Campbell will meet her future husband John Palmer Chandler when she & her mother Mary Anielka Whaley Campbell go to West Point following the accident. GAC II is buried in the cemetery behind the Old Cadet Chapel at West Point. George Campbell (Camp) Murphy will be named for GAC II in 1971, thus preserving the family name for another generation. See Camp Murphy, 2006 (June 25-30).

1949 - The alewife is first observed in Lake Michigan. When the lake trout population collapses in the 1950's, there will be no predators to control the alewife, and the alewife population will grow rapidly.

1949 - Charles Clayton Morrison and 35 other church leaders propose the so-called "Greenwich" or "Morrison" plan for a united Protestant church. Morrison is disappointed at its failure.

1949 - "They Walked on Singing Sands" is written by Georgia May Campbell Lollis [1901-1991] and read to a women's club in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her lengthy paper links all who have frequented the Lake Michigan beach: Indians, French explorers, lumbermen, sailors & Campbell Park cottage owners. She previously wrote "Michigan Minutia" will later write "We Walked on Singing Sands" (about 1965), both about Campbell Park.

1949 (August 17) - Pentwater Heights Association (PHA) incorporation is extended. Ten shareholders own a total of 60 shares:

--Hugh T. Morrison, Old Pueblo Club, Phoenix, Ariz. (10 shares)
--Carl C. Bushnell, unknown address (10 shares)
--Edward S. Ames, 5722 Kimbark Ave., Chicago, Ill. (5 shares)
--Van Meter Ames, 448 Warren Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio (5 shares)
--Robert L. Willett, 643 Library Place, Evanston, Ill. (10 shares)
--Virginia Fawley Reichelt, 225 Argyle Road, West Palm Beach, Fla. (10 shares)
--Robert A. Campbell, 207 E. Liberty, Barrington, Ill. (2-1/2 shares)
--Mrs. E.W. Lollis, 5872 Julian Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. (2-1/2 shares)
--Mrs. James Auer, 6 Gray Bridge Lane, Clayton, Mo. (2-1/2 shares)
--Mrs. Mary Campbell, 6325 McPherson, St. Louis, Mo. (2-1/2 shares)

1950 (May 27) - Rosabell CAMPBELL McCartney [1894-1950] (oldest of the five Campbell children) dies at her home in Phoenix, Arizona.

1950 & over the years - Nine views of Pentwater's Hancock Street looking north. (Viewpoints vary somewhat.) First two images date from 1890's or circa 1900. White Elephant [1891-1927] is on left (west) side in both images. Horses only (no car) in first image. Fourth image is dated 1950. Prominent 3-story 1883 Masonic building is on left (west) side of six images. Centenary United Methodist Church (obscured by trees in some images) changes steeples. Ken Lites Rexall drugstore in three images becomes a package liquor store in the 3rd from last & last images (now Dollar Discount) circa 2000.

About 1960 - Four postcard views of Hancock Street looking south. On left (east) side is Standard Service station with curbside pumps (It was vacated in 1976. Gustafson’s Boutique Clothing Store 1981-2002 & a variety of retail services since then.), restaurant/bakery, Balfour's grocery store & old water tower. On right are Sally Dicks department store, the 3-story 1883 Masonic building (with Bailey's hardware store sign overhanding the sidewalk), Pentwater Theater (site of the White Elephant 1891-1927) & Ken Lites drugstore on right (west) side of street. Note old & new watertowers.

1951 (Summer) - Level of Lake Michigan reaches an all-time high (at least since records were first kept in 1860). Image is undated but shows Pentwater's North Beach during a summer of very high lake level. Note erosion of low dunes with small trees & beach grass falling directly into the lake. Also note swimmers in the lake & sign marking the northern boundary of Charles Mears State Park. This summer (or some other) cottages at Epworth Heights in Ludington are undercut & fall into the lake.

1952 (September 6) - The SS Badger is launched in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. "Built primarily to transport railroad freight cars, but with superior passenger accommodations, the Badger reigned as Queen of the Lakes during the car ferries' Golden Era in the late 1950's, with Manitowoc, Milwaukee & Kewaunee as her Wisconsin ports of call. By the 1970's, changing railroad economics will be condemning other car ferries to mothballs or the scrap yard. With little railroad freight business left & without ever tapping into the opportunity to serve the needs of the vacation traveler, the Badger sailed from Wisconsin to Ludington & tied up for the last time in November 1990." Service resumed about 2000. The Badger is now the oldest & last coal-burning steamship on the Great Lakes (although its sister ship, the S.S. Spartan, remains tied up in Ludington and could be returned to service). Formerly, there were hundreds of "steamers" on the lakes, and smoke from several was a common sight at Campbell Park for many decades.

1953 (June 21) - Mable VAN METER Ames [1869-1953] (wife of Edward Scribner AMES) dies in Chicago.

1953 (about) - The Campbell Park wreck lies in 12 feet of water. Robert Alexander Campbell will write August 2, 1985: "It surprises me that the old wreck still shows. This might indicate the bottom of the lake doesn't change too much. However, back in early 50s it was 12 feet deep over the wreck. I used to rent a row boat (with outboard motor) and keep it on the beach. With the little girls [born in 1942 & 1944] we would boat out over the wreck and fish. That summer there were always perch there and we had great fun pulling them in and having them for breakfast."  See entry for 1985 (Summer).

1954-1956 - Three cottages change ownership: The Wakeley/McCormack cottage is sold to the Kuizenga family in 1954, the Fawley cottage is sold to the Clark family in 1955, and the E.S. Ames cottage is sold to the Sloan family in 1956. (The Coleman/Morrison cottage will be sold to the Irwin/Purnell family in 1958, and the Willett/Wright cottage will be sold to the Kunz family in 1983.)

1956 (June 30) - A spectacular seiche causes Lake Michigan to receed & then rush back onshore from Grand Traverse Bay in the north to Pentwater in the south, but no serious damage is reported.

1956 - Pentwater Wire Products (PWP), 474 South Carroll Street, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "Manufacturer of custom wire, tubing & metal products since 1956." This has been Pentwater's only "heavy industry" for 55 years.

1956-57 - Charles Clayton Morrison presses PHA officers (President Robert Alexander Campbell and Secretary Van Meter Ames) to pay him for the share of Campbell Park which he relinquished in 1909 (despite using for many years his power of attorney from brother Hugh T. Morrison to participate in PHA meetings instead of exercising his own rights as a stockholder). They search records in Chicago and Cincinnati and conclude that his claim is invalid.

1957 (June) - Great Lakes Shoreline Survey is begun. The survey report "Remaining Shoreline" will cause the National Park Service to expand into the Great Lakes region. At the time of its release there are only three national park units in the region (Isle Royale National Park, Grand Portage National Monument, and Perry's Victory National Monument). Afterwards, Sleaping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and five other units will be will be established.

1957 (July 5) - George B. Fawley [1868-1959] comes "to Chicago from Michigan City...and had lunch with Bob Campbell... Afterwards the two went down and visited with [Edward Scribner Ames] [1870-1958] and [his daughter] Polly for an hour... What a treat to see these men greet one another and converse. They are still building, still religious, still educating and still loyal to family and friends." (from RAC's 1907-1957 history, page 19)

1957 (July 24) - "Pentwater Heights Association incorporation is extended.

S E M I - C E N T E N N I A L 1957 (July 24) - "Campbell Park, July 15, 1907-1957," a "folio" about Campbell Park history, is compiled and distributed by Robert Alexander CAMPBELL [1904-1986] to commemorate Campbell Park's semi-centennial (23 pages). He prepares 100 copies at a total cost of $146.25. First paragraph: "Campbell Park attained the age of fifty years July 15, 1957. Two of the original group of eleven are living and have only recently sold their cottages. To Dr. E. S. Ames and Geo. B. Fawley we dedicate this review of the first fifty years of Campbell Park. The founders were family men, builders, religious men, churchmen, and deeply interested in education..."

1957 (August 15) - "The Pentwater News" summarizes the report by Robert Alexander Campbell. Click here for full text. The same issue headlines "Carrie E. Mears Passes at Pentwater." Miss Mears [1880-1957] will be buried in Chicago.

1957 (August 23) - "The Ludington Daily News" runs a story about Campbell Park by local historian Leonore P. Williams based on the report by Robert Alexander Campbell. She repeats his count that Campbell Park's present families number 134 individuals. Ms. Williams will later write a biography of Charles Mears.

1958 (March 22) - Legal help is sought by Pentwater Heights Association president Robert Alexander CAMPBELL to "clarify our present corporate status." Campbell writes: "The original group included Dr. E.S. Ames, who will be 88, April 21, 1958, and Mr. George Fawley, who was 89 last September 17, 1957. Neither owns a cottage or stock now. Van Meter Ames owns a cottage and stock. Mrs. Virginia Fawley Reichelt now owns only stock."

1958 (June 3) - Robert Alexander Campbell [1904-1986] resigns as president of the Pentwater Heights Association (PHA). He had been president 9 years (since 1949). Within a month, he will sell his 1/4 interest in the Campbell Cottage to his two remaining sisters and sister-in-law. Their descendants still share the cottage. (A fifth sibling, Rosabelle Campbell McCartney, sold out in 1948.) Bob will be suceeded as PHA president by Robert Walker Clark [b.1894] who will serve 21 years (until 1978).

D E A T H 1958 (June 29) - Death of Campbell Park founder Edward Scribner Ames [1870-1958] in Chicago, Illinois. His ashes will be scattered with his wife Mable's behind Pine Terrace, their cottage in Campbell Park.

B O O K 1959 - - "Beyond Theology: The Autobiography of Edward Scribner Ames" [1870-1958] is edited by his son Van Meter Ames [1898-1985] and published posthumously by the University of Chicago Press (233 pages). The next to last chapter (pages 203-213) is about Pentwater. /// Other works by ESA: The Psychology of Religious Experience (1910), The Divinity of Christ (1911), The Higher Individualism (1915), The New Orthodoxy (1918), Religion (1929), Letters to God & the Devil (1933).

D E A T H 1959 (December 30) - Death of Campbell Park founder George B. Fawley [1868-1959] in West Palm Beach, Floria (USA), home of his daughter Virginia Fawley Reichelt. He will be buried in the city of his birth, Wabash, Indiana, where his wife Azema Klum [1869-1865] will also be buried.

S E A W A Y 1959 - Saint Lawrence Seaway is completed, permitting larger ocean-going ships to enter the Great Lakes. The time to sail 1,251 miles from Montreal (past Campbell Park) to Chicago is 105 hours (plus an average of 17 hours to transit the locks enroute).

1960 - "The Road" is built up the dunes behind nine of Campbell Park's ten cottages, thus ending years of controversy  Never officially named by Campbell Park itselt, "the road" now appears on internet maps as "Campbell Park Road."

1960 - "The Fashion and Future of History" by Bernadotte Everly Schmitt [1886-1969] is published by the Press of Western Reserve University (205 pages). Husband of Damaris Kathryn (Babs) Ames [1901-1985] since 1939, Schmitt was a professor at the University of Chicago and historian of the Department of State in Washington, DC. He won the 1931 Pulitzer Prize in history for "The Coming of the War 1914."

1961 - "Japan and Zen" is written by Betty & Van Meter Ames and published by the University of Cincinnati (41 pages). The little book contains two essays: "Impressions of a Fulbright Wife in Japan" (pp. 1-27) by Betty and "Zen" (pp. 29-41) by Van Meter.

1962 - William Hepworth and his wife celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They have 14 children, 61 grandchildren & five great grandchildren. For many years, Mr. Hepworth drove a horse-drawn wagon up the beach to collect garbage (which he fed to pigs) from Campbell Park & other cottages.

1963 (February 11-13) - Winter visit to Campbell Park (& Kings Canyon) by Georgia May Campbell Lollis (age 61) & Ted Lollis (age 25) who walk to the cottages from US-31. Lake Michigan is frozen as far as can be seen. Georgia May writes a lengthy description of the visit entitled "The fable of the tortoise and the hare." Images show the rear of the Campbell Cottage in both winter & summer.

1963 (late) - In Kigali, Rwanda (scene of the 1994 genocide), American Vice Consul Ted Lollis renews the passport of the American wife of German embassy officer Michael Kopp & discovers that she is Miriam McCormack, daughter of cottage owner John McCormack from Chicago. Ted and Miriam played together many summers in the 1940's, along with Sanford and Christine Ames, Joan Auer, and other children in Campbell Park.

1964 (June) - Level of Lake Michigan reaches a new low (at least since records were first kept in 1860). Lake level will become this low again in 2001 & trend downward thereafter. Graphic shows monthly lake level measurements varying from just below 577 feet & just above 582 feet above sea level. The 10 lowest curves are for 2004, 2001, 1999, 2008, 2006, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2000 & 2007. See record high in 1951.

1966 (March 2) - Charles Clayton MORRISON [1874-1966] dies in Chicago at age 91. His funeral will take place at the University Church of the Disciples of Christ near the University of Chicago.

1966 - Herbert Lockwood WILLETT III discovers "The Corridor of Years: An Autobiographical Record," the manuscript of an unpublished autobiography of his grandfather Herbert Lockwood WILLETT, and sends a copy to the Christian Century. Page 115 of the manuscript describes the creation of Campbell Park in 1907.

C O L L E G E 1967 - Establishment of West Shore Community Collge, Scottville, Michigan (USA).

1967 (August 6-13) - Village of Pentwater celebrates its centennial. Realtor Harold B. Shaw is chairman of the Centennial Committee. Shaw is well known to Campbell Park residents. As president of the Pentwater Rotary Club, he admitted William Epworth to membership as "sanitary engineer."

A L E W I F E 1967 - The alewife contaminates Pentwater beaches & comprises an estimated 85 percent of the entire Lake Michigan fishery. Chub, lake herring, yellow perch & emerald shiner populations crash. Fish managers introduce the coho salmon in 1966 and the chinook salmon in 1967 to control the alewife.

P O W E R . P L A N T 1969 - Construction of the 842-acre Ludington Pumped Storage Reservoir is begun by Consumers Energy & Detroit Edison. Six turbines for "the project" will be shipped directly from Japan to Ludington, then hauled on a special road the last few miles. "The project" will be completed in 1973 at a cost of $379 million, forever altering the view from Campbell Park [right image].

1970 - "Prayers and Meditations of Edward Scribner Ames" [1870-1958] is edited by Van Meter Ames [1898-1985] and published by the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago (144 pages).

1971 - Historical Marker is erected in Ludington commemorating the "Armistice Day Storm" of November 11, 1940. A similar marker will be erected in Pentwater in 1986 commemorating the "Veterans' Day Storm".

R O C K . B A N D 1971 - "The Band Pentwater." "By allegedly removing a tired, old, unnecessary state sign nobody needed on the Pentwater River in the state of Michigan, and by placing said sign in front of the drums, the band became known as 'Pentwater River.' The 'River' was dropped as being too country-esque (and/or felonious), and the sign vanished. But the name stuck."

A S P A R A G U S 1973 - First annual National Asparagus Festival, Oceana County, Michigan (USA). "Asparagus Capital of the Nation." Left image is from 1976 festival. Click here for trailer of the 53-minute asparagus video. /// "Dwindling attendance and 'a significant reduction in funds' have members of Asparagus Festival board of directors asking themselves if the Oceana County event has a future. 'We need help, that's what we need,' said Leroy Glover, an asparagus farmer from Stony Lake who is president of the board. 'We need to know if people even want the festival anymore.' The 36th annual festival, held June 12-14, 2009, in Shelby & Hart to celebrate the asparagus harvest, lost $6,000 -- and the bills are still coming in, Glover said."

A S S O C I A T I O N 1975 - Formation of North Central Beach Association (NCBA), a "summer resort corporation" under Michigan law intended to "preserve, protect & enhance the residential character & natural environment of the Association & the beach & the waters of Lake Michigan." The cottages of the NCBA are north of the 1902 North Beach Association (NBA) & south of Bass Lake. /// Right two images show "Plank Henge" as created on the beach by NCBA cottage owner Ed Pierce when lake levels were low: "Sundial in center has correct time twice a day. Virgins sacrificed the 1st Tuesday of the month. Interesting beach artifacts. Tours daily. Donations welcome."

M A R I N A Date? - Municipal Marina, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Village of Pentwater opens its own marina. Lacking many services, the marina does not compete with commercial marinas such as adjacent Snug Harbor (qv) but has fish cleaning structure and becomes rendezvous point for charter fishing boats. Site is former lumber storage yard for adjacent sawmill.

M U S E U M 1976 - Historic White Pine Village museum opens as a Bicentennial project near Ludington. A collection of "over 29 museum buildings & sites of history dedicated to preserving & presenting Mason County's past. The buildings contain thousands of signs, artifacts & archives that help interpret their place in history."

1978 - "To Find the Simple Things", a book of poetry, is written and published by Van Meter Ames [1898-1985] in Cincinnati, Ohio (190 pages). Chapter 1 (pages 9-33) is devoted to poems about Pentwater. The foreword is written by Macklin Thomas, Van's second cousin and owner of Wayside Cottage (located just North of Campbell Park). Van's previous works include "Aesthetics of the Novel" (1928).

1979 (February 19) - According to the US Coast Guard, "it is rare that Lake Michigan freezes over completely. Despite the area¹s reputation for harsh winters, the only year we are certain Lake Michigan approached being completely frozen over was 1979, when extended periods of low temperatures resulted in an extensive ice buildup in the southern half of the lake. In an average year, ice covers a bit less than half of Lake Michigan's surface. Because the lake stretches about 300 miles from North to South, there is usually much open water over the deeper waters of the southern basin due to milder temperatures. Since airborne & satellite observations of lake ice began four decades ago, only two other years, 1977 & 1994, have seen periods when nearly 90% of the lake was ice-covered. Recently, warmer temperatures have kept the ice cover far below average levels. The icepack covered only 15% of Lake Michigan in 1998, even in late February when the icepack is usually at its greatest. Image shows ice cover on February 19, 1979, near the time of maximum ice extent."

1979 (August) - Map of Campbell Park is drawn by Edward (Ted) LOLLIS from field notes he made in August 1975. Right click to enlarge map; click again to zoom in. Map attempts to relate the 1907 street names (laid out but never constructed) to the actual dune topography. It shows the disused well house & pipe to the top of Tank Hill (highest dune in Cumpbell Park) and all ten cottages (some with dotted lines), plus the separate study of Van Meter Ames & the delapidated garage in "The Common." It also shows nine "summer shorelines" (using measurements made each summer by different Campbell Cottage occupants from the middle steps). The beach is narrowest in 1976. Tower Hill is names used for the dune on the southern boundary of Campbell Park. In the 1940's & 1950's Tower Hill still had 2-3 story tower overlooking the village of Pentwater. The abandoned tower was unsafe, and kids would dare each other to climb up to its rickety observation deck.

P O E M S 1980 (about) - "Mom's Book [of Poetry]" (38 pages) is published by Janet Neilson [d.1998] in Saint Louis, Missouri. It contains at least three poems inspired by Campbell Park in Pentwater, Michigan: Climbing to Tank Hill, Lake Michigan Sunset & Purple Martins. Janet & Art Neilson are owners of "Dune Crest" (original Roach cottage).

N O R T H . B E A C H . A S S O C I A T I O N 1981 - "Of Time and PENTWATER - NORTH BEACH" - A history of the North Beach Association (immediately North of Campbell Park) by Sydney V. JAMES, Edward Topping JAMES & others is published by the North Beach Association of Pentwater, Inc. (See entry for April 17, 2001.)

P E N T W A T E R . H I S T O R I C A L . S O C I E T Y 1982 - Foundation of the Pentwater Historical Society (PHS). The society will open a museum in the basement of the municipal building and (in 2007?) erect seven interpretive panels in various parts of the village.

1982 (Summer) - Village of Pentwater sends questionnaire to all property owners asking how Pentwater might be improved. Campbell Park will adopt a resolution on 04 July 1983 commending various village bodies "for the constructive information they have developed..."

1984 (January 18) - Christian Century celebrates its centennial, i.e. the centennial of the founding of its predecessor publication -- the Christian Oracle -- in Iowa in 1884. In the January 18 issue of the Century, managing editor Linda-Marie Delloff quotes Charles Clayton Morrison as giving George Alexander Campbell credit for suggesting the new name -- the Christian Century -- in Chicago in 1899.

1984 (March 1) - Robert Alexander Campbell publishes "Letters of Two in Love: June 20, 1889 - August 30, 1892, Luna May Jameson [and] George Alexander Campbell," Barrington, Illinois (USA). Full texts of all letters exchanged & saved by LMJ & GAC (age 20-23) during the three summers preceeding their wedding in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 20, 1892. RAC discovered these letters in 1977 in packing boxes in his basement store room.

1984 - Hart Historic District, Hart, Michigan (USA). "The city has a web page about the district, but there is no map included or even a mention of how many structures are in the district." Left image: "A small sign on this building (an old warehouse maybe?) reads 'Future Historic Building.' Hopefully it's around long enough to become historic :)" Right image: "The Sackrider United Bretheren Church was built in Elbridge Township in 1894. In 1990 it was moved to the Hart Historic District to preserve it." This church is apparently made of Pentwater brick.

1984 (July 15) - "Precisely at noon on July 15th, the 59-year-old Presidential yacht Sequoia steamed into Pentwater, Mich., accompanied by a flag-bedecked welcoming fleet and cheered by crowds lining the breakwaters at the harbor entrance. The town band greeted Sequoia as she came to rest at the Pentwater Yacht Club, one more stop on the 6,000-mile round-trip cruise from Washington, DC, that this grande dame of riverboats completed in the fall of 1984." NB: Photo at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum - not in Pentwater.

1985 (Summer) - The Campbell Park wreck lies in only four feet of water. See entry for 1953 (about).

1985 (November 5) - Van Meter Ames [1898-1985] dies in Cincinnati, Ohio. There will be discussion about a suitable memorial, and a little book of Van's writings about Pentwater will be published in 1996. A memorial bench will also be constructed on the board walk, but other names are proposed, and no plaque is ever afixed to the memorial bench.

1986 - Historical Markers are erected in Pentwater commemorating the "Veterans' Day Storm" of November 11, 1940 and the "Graveyard of Ships". A similar marker was erected in Ludington in 1971 commemorating the "Armistice Day Storm".

F L O O D 1986 (September) - Torential rains ("worst flooding in history of Michigan") create havoc all along Pentwater River: Hart Lake is drained, the southbound bridge of the US-31 freeway collapses [left image], and Long Bridge across Pentwater Lake is inundated [right image].

As of 1986 (September 30) - Pentwater Channel, US Army Corps of Engineers, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "The project was authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 2 March 1867, 3 March 1873, 5 July 1884, 13 July 1892 and 2 March 1907. The project provides for widening the old entrance channel to 150 feet between parallel piers & revetments, the channel to extend from Lake Michigan to Pentwater Lake, with a depth of 16 feet. The piers & revetments are built of stone-filled timber cribs & piling and are provided with concrete superstructure. The north pier & revetment was completed in 1885 for a length of 2,226 feet. The south pier & revetment was completed in 1889 for a length of 1,847 feet. The present length of the north pier & revetment is 2,022 feet; 204 feet of deteriorated pier was removed in 1931. In 1960, the north pier was extended 60 feet by construction of a rubblemound structure. The channel is currently maintained at 12 feet deep. The harbor services primarily recreational navigation interests."

F I S H Late 1980's - "by Jeff Alexander | The Muskegon Chronicle Saturday November 08, 2008: Dan O'Keefe was fishing for salmon in the Pentwater River recently when he caught a foreign fish that has become a scourge in the Great Lakes and a harbinger of destructive changes. O'Keefe landed a round goby, a menacing little fish that transoceanic freighters imported to the Great Lakes in ballast water in the late 1980's. The species, which is native to the Black & Caspian Seas in Eastern Europe, has harmed some native fish species & disrupted fishing at numerous sites around the lakes. Having conquered the lakes, gobies are now extending their range to rivers and inland lakes across the region that flow into lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie & Ontario. Gobies have been spotted in rivers in all eight states around the Great Lakes, according to data compiled by the US Geological Survey."

1989 (July 5) - Sand Dune Statutes (P.A. 146 & 147) are signed into law by Michigan Governor James J. Blanchard. The laws generally prohibit any structure on a slope steeper than 18% and any use at all on a slope steeper than 25%.

W E D D I N G September 1, 1990 - Wedding of Ted Lollis & Schera Chadwick, Campbell Cottage, Campbell Park, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). Note framed picture from 1925 of Chateau de Chillon near Montreux (Switzerland) above photos of George Alexander CAMPBELL & Luna May JAMESON Campbell.

1991 Hart-Montegue Rail Trail. "A linear State Park following the former line of the Grand Rapids & Lakeshore RR Company. This was taken over by the Chicago & West Michigan RR, then the C&O, which abandoned the line in 1982. A paved rail-trail extends for 23.5 miles, covering 225 acres, from Hart to Whitehall at the southern end. Open to hiking, biking, in-line skating, skiing, and -- if there are 4+ inches of snow -- snowmobiling. Also marked as being open to dog-sledding south of Rothbury."

1992 (May) - "When the S.S. Badger set sail from Ludington, Michigan in May 1992, following a gala christening, it signaled a return of something that had been a colorful and interwoven part of Lake Michiganhistory for more than a century. The Lake Michigan car ferry was back."

1993 (August) - "Campbell Park - Minutes of the Cottage Owners Association and the Pentwater Heights Association (along with other material included in the original notebooks) 1907-1992" is photocopied and distributed by Ann Clark Calkins.

1996 (Spring) - "They Built on Sand," by Van Meter Ames [1898-1985] is edited by Sanford Ames and published by Campbell Park Cottage Owners in Van Meter's memory. The little book contains an an essay about Pentwater (pp. 1-17) and sixteen Pentwater poems (pp. 31-46).

1994 - Epworth Heights celebrates its centennial.

1998 - Bortell's Fish Market celebrates its centennial.

1998 (September 5) - James Edward (Jim) Murphy [b.1947] & Kim M. Halliburton-Cohen of Upper Arlington, Ohio, are married on the beach at Campbell Park by the minister of the People's Church (Unitarian Universalist) of Ludington.

P E N T W A T E R . L A K E 1999 - Pentwater Lake Association (PLA) is created. Slogan: "For the love of the lake." Click here to see Pentwater Lake Guidebook.

1999 (July) - "Like the core of the family that held everything together." - Two of the oldest and most revered members of the Campbell family die eight days apart: Cleta Hope CAMPBELL Whitehead [born in Yakima, Washington, in 1893] and Mary Evalyn CAMPBELL Auer Wulff [born in Hannibal, Missouri, in 1912].

1999 (August) - "Garrison Park Association History" by Harry Q. Wasson and others is published by the Garrison Park Association. See 1903 entry for the early history of Garrison Park..

1999 (Summer) - Little River Casino Resort, Manistee, Michigan (USA). "Our Resort opened in the summer of 1999 with 600 slot machines. Since 1999 we have expanded in multiple stages to what now includes, a beautiful 292-room luxury hotel, a 1,700 seat event center, and an expanding collection of slots and table games. With our continued growth Little River has now over 23,000 square feet of space to enjoy a myriad of resort activities. We will continue our property design and amenities with you in mind. Our goal is to remain the best destination resort in Michigan."

2000 (January 26) - Christian Century celebrates "a century of the Century" -- and decides to retain its name for a second hundred years ("Take Two"). In the January 26 issue of the Century, historian Mark Toulouse refers to Pentwaterites Herbert Lockwood Willett, Edward Scribner Ames, and Charles Clayton Morrison.

2001 (April 17) - Death of Edward Topping JAMES [1917-2001] in Norwood, Massachusetts. Born in Chicago, James was a lifelong summer resident of Pentwater's North Beach, Harvard roommate of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and co-editor with his wife Janet WILSON of "Notable American Women, 1607-1950" (3152 pages, Belknap Press, January 1, 1971). His grandfather Wendell TOPPING purchased Lake Michigan frontage immediately North of Campbell Park and started what would become the North Beach Association (NBA).  (See entries for Spring 1941 and 1981.)

2001 (May) - Wave absorbers, new channel, US Army Corps of Engineers, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "On both the north & south jetties placed directly across from one another. Both are approximately 200 feet long & 30-40 feet wide with 2.5-5 ton armor stone, 1000-1500 lb underlayer stone and 1 to 50 lb bedding stone. All stone is placed at a 2H:1V slope. They are open to wave interaction on both the lake and channel sides, with a concrete walkway in the middle supported by H-piles. The predominant wave direction, in deep water, for Pentwater is out of the south-southwest. A detailed study including physical & numerical modeling is currently underway for this harbor. The response from the local residents has been positive concerning the effectiveness of the wave absorber cells. The project depth is 16 feet."

2001 (August) - Cane Ridge Ridge Meeting House in Paris, Kentucky, celebrates the bicentennial of the Great Revival led by Barton Warren Stone.  (See entry for 1801.)

2002 (May) - "The Town that Time Forgot: Tiny Pentwater, Michigan, hasn't changed too much in decades [and] that's a good thing."  This is the subject of a travel article by Rebecca Poynor Burns in the Indianapolis Monthly magazine. Click here for full text.

2002 (October 4) - Betty Breneman Ames [1907-2002] dies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Betty is 95 years old (same age as Campbell Park) and the last of "the second generation" (i.e. Campbell Park founders' children and their spouses).

2003 (May 28) - Publication of "Priceless Pentwater Memories: A walk-through town history of Pentwater," by Robert J. O'Brien, Jr., Oceana County Herald.

2003 - "Ghosts of the Oceana Coast: Pentwater Shipwrecks" is published by Brendon Baillod. The author is co-founder & director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The book mentions the Campbell Park wreck but does not conclusively identify it. See entries for 1878 (September 20), 1953 (about), and 1985 (Summer).

2004 - Garrison Park celebrates its centennial on Pentwater's South Beach.

R E S I D E N T I A L . A R E A Date? - Cottages at Lites' Woods, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). "When completed, the Cottages at Lites’ Woods, located in the Village of Pentwater, will consist of 130 new dwellings, comprised of single- & two-family homes. The concept of this community is to create an entirely new neighborhood that contextually relates to the existing village neighborhoods."

N O V E L April 25, 2005 - Publication of "Return to Pentwater," a Christian romance by Martha J. Robach. Plot: "Braden Willis is wealthy and cultured, and his passion for Chloe disrupts her quiet existence in Pentwater. A golden life in Chicago beckons. But first Chloe needs to free herself and her family from the heartache brought about by the events of the black summer nine years before."

V I S I T 2006 (June 25-30) - George Campbell (Camp) Murphy (b.1971) & his girlfriend Anna photograph Campbell Cottage (interior and exterior), Campbell Park, Pentwater, and vicinity. Camp posts the photos to his photoblog "iCamp." To see the photos, go to "Pentwater - June 2006" and "Campbell Cottage Album". Camp was named for George Alexender Campbell II who was killed at West Point, New York, on September 11, 1948 (qv).

G U I D E B O O K April 2007 - Publication of "Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast: Exploring Michigan's West Coast Beach Towns - From New Buffalo to Mackinaw City" by Julie Albrecht Royce. Pages 148-159 describe Pentwater. Click here for scan from Google Books.

I N T E R P R E T I V E . P A N E L S 2007? - Interpretive Panels, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). A set of seven colorful, modern panels (plaques) with historic information & photos is placed by the Pentwater Historical Society (PHS) in different places around the village. Neither the names of the panels nor their texts is on-line! The only photo of a panel found on-line [right image] is from southern end of the ferry/bridge crossing of the Pentwater channel (right image).

F I R E May 21, 2007 - "Historic" Nickerson Inn, a Pentwater landmark since 1914, is destroyed by fire. Its bell (seen at the extreme right of the right image) will be sold on eBay for $975.00. /// Pentwater has been frequently plagued by fire. See table at the very top of this web page for the names of some historic fires.

C E N T E N N I A L 2007(July 15) - Campbell Park celebrates its centennial on Pentwater's North Beach. A thick history ("Campbell Park 1907-2007: The First 100 Years") is compiled and distributed in a 3-ring binder by "the historical committee" (Sibyl Sloan McBride, Pat Neilson, Anne Shannon & Julie Sloan Van Hamm). Some of this website is reproduced in Chapter 1 (History). Other sources of Chapter 1 are "Pentwater 1853-1942" by Florence R. Schrumpf, "Campbell Park 1907-1957" by Robert Alexander Campbell, "A Review of Twenty Years 1957-1977," and Campbell Park minutes 1977-present. The new book also includes a five-page essay I wrote in March 2007 about my mother's lifelong association with Pentwater and Campbell Park. Click here to see the essay (in Word format).

F I R E 2007 (August 17) - Cottage burns down in Pentwater's Garrison Park, leading the Pentwater Fire Department to make an extensive 61-page analysis entitled "Fire Threat in Garrison Park Dune Community" (2010?). Image shows assistant fire chief Raymond S. Hasil who wrote the report. Report contains many maps & photos of Garrison Park. Click here for full text. See "Garrison Park Fire" on Myspace Videos.

A R T I C L E 2007 (December 1) - "Pentwater Pierhead Light," illustrated article about Pentwater & its two pierhead lighthouses, by Terry Pepper, Huntington County, Indiana. Date shown is date of last modification. Click here for full text.

2009 - "Argyle on the Lake" is produced by Cat Auer. "Campbell Cottage and environs, Pentwater, Michigan. For Mom and Dad. Thanks for a life of wonderful summers." A 22-page book containing 31 color photos of Argyle College & Campbell Park.

2009 (August 3) - Bicentennial of Thomas Campbell's "Declaration and Address" (qv) is celebrated with a mass communion service at the close of the World Convention of Christian Churches in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bicentennial Task Force issues a new call for unity among all congregations in the Stone-Campbell movement -- the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

2009 (August 6) - Executive editor Lisa Schlichtman publishes "Special places," a short article about Pentwater & Campbell Park, in the Cassville Democrat, Cassville, Missouri. "I think...what I like best about Pentwater [is that] it's a place where I feel close to God and close to my family. It's the place where both my children and I grew up playing in the sand and waves, and the place where my grown-up son chose to mark the beginning of his own family." Click here for full text.

F A C E B O O K . P A G E 2010? - "You might be from Pentwater if..." Facebook Page. Examples: "...if you ever ice skated at the rink across the street from van nortwicks. did dishes at the drift inn. Got on a bus at 4am for state band competion with one heck of a hang over but still managed to do good and come home with straight ones!!" "...Hot chocolate at Yesteryear after sledding at the village green when they actually piled snow at the top of the hill so it was fun!" "...if you have hiked in King's Canyon or Queen's Canyon? That's the site where the Pumped Storage plant in Ludington is. There was a banner crop of poison ivy there as well. Queen's is still there, but you can no longer easily access it." /// Page is symbolized by old photograph of Hancock Street. Note old water tower. Note padlock shaped sign for Bailey's hardware store in 3-story building which was Chkarles Mears' original general store (future Gustafson's World Market).

R O B B E R Y 2011 (April 12) - Robbery at Huntington Bank, Pentwater, Michigan (USA) - "A 36-year-old Whitehall man arrested in the April 12 Pentwater bank robbery faces federal charges, police said. Authorities say the man, whose name wasn’t released, was arrested at 4:08 p.m. Thursday in a Whitehall motel. An arraignment was pending. When police caught up with the man, $1,100 in cash and coins, an Airsoft handgun and a 1991 Dodge Dakota pickup truck believed to be driven from the robbery scene were recovered. Police say the suspect was identified during 'a canvas of U.S. 31' by a Pentwater Police officer who stopped at gas stations along the highway in an effort to identify the man."

F R E E W A Y 2011 (Late April) - "Michigan Department of Transportation began the $20 million US-31 reconstruction project between Polk (Pentwater Exit) & Monroe Roads (Hart Exit). Southbound traffic at Monroe Road was routed off the expressway & across Monroe via the ramps while reconstuction over the Pentwater River bridge was completed. Work then shifted to the southbound lane."

M U S E U M Summer 2011 - Pentwater Historical Society (PHS), Pentwater, Michigan (USA), acquires the 1895 First Baptist Church (image at far right) at First & Rutledge Streets and starts to plan an an enlarged musuem which will include the history of Pentwater's turn-of-the-century summer colonies, e.g. Oceana Beach, Garrison Park, North Beach Association & Campbell Park.

W I N D . T U R B I N E S Future - Wind Power Project, Pentwater, Michigan (USA). N.B.: This image of the Pentwater lighthouses in winter is superimposed to show how the proposed offshore wind turbine farm might appear from Charles Mears State Park. Right click image to obtain larger view.