
Sunday Supper and Sunset
at the Lakeshore
Sunday, July 12th
from 6 PM until sunset
Hosted by Ellen & Richard Donovan
2641 Lakeshore Drive
(South of washout) $65 per person

Toast the summer at this lovely
lake front home and garden. After a dinner served hot off the
grill, sit on the shore to watch the sun set into Lake Michigan.
Still a few tickets left. Just REPLY to
this email to make your reservation and we will be in touch.

Small Plates, Small Talk
Thursday, July 16th, 11 am - 2 pm Hosted by Ken Carls
325 Water Street, Douglas
$100 per person
Still a few tickets left. Just REPLY to
this email to make your reservation and we will be in touch.

Dine Around dinner guests at the
Red House, home of Ken Carls and Jim Schmiechen overlooking Wade's
Bayou in Douglas, have come to count on sitting down to tasty fare
around the big dining room table. This time guests will join Ken
in the kitchen and watch what's going on as he prepares a
selection of Red House favorites. Then guests will enjoy a "tapas
style" luncheon as they sample the day's fare - and experience
dishes they can add to their own cooking repertoire. Emphasis will
be on fresh, seasonal, easy-to-make dishes for casual dining.
Wildwood Progressive Dinner Party
Saturday, Sept. 19th, 6 - 9 pm
Hosted by Vito Masciopinto,
Susan & Mark Lauterbach,
Sarah Harris & Alex Fink
$100 per person
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!!


The new Historical Chronicle has been printed and is
available around town including at the Pump House Museum and the Old
School House. Pick up your copy and be sure to patronize the
advertisers who make the Historical Chronicle possible. Happy summer
reading.
May Board Meeting Summary
l
Our Francis metallic "Surfboat" has been added to the listing of
National Register of Historic Places listing as of April 21st.
The Board will soon decide on appropriate signage and an event to
publicize this honor.
l
The WGVU Michigan Hometown Stories DVD (which was previewed at the
SCA on May 8th) will be on sale by the SDHS after July
2015.
l
The hiring process for our full-time Director is continuing and
interviews will take place in early June.
l
There was 100% Board participation in donations to the Museum
Sponsorship Campaign, which raised almost $25,000 in pledges.
l
The new Museum Exhibit is on schedule and is reported to be the
most complicated and amazing exhibit yet. The opening will take
place May 23, 2015 at the Museum.
l
Plans for a Civil War Reenactment, to be held at the OSH in August
in conjunction with the SD Library, are proceeding. It will be
held on the same day as the Douglas Social with the trolley
transporting and informing attendees.
l
The new electronic "Guest Book" is up and running at the Museum
and is working well. Thank you emails to guests are mailed the day
after their visit.
l
Our "Review of Achievements" publication will be sent to the
Council Members and City Managers of Saugatuck, Douglas and
Saugatuck Township to publicize the accomplishments of the
Society.
submitted by Sharon Kelly

Welcome from Jack Sheridan and Chris Yoder, leaders
of the Society Family History Group.
Please visit us to see what we are all about and
most importantly, share "lessons learned" about the many tools
available for family history research.
One of the liveliest and fastest growing areas in
family history research is also the deadest. You guessed it
cemeteries! In 1995, an organization we now know as FIND A GRAVE
came into the world.
Jim Tipton - a Michigan born man - opened the Find
A Grave website in 1995 because he could not find an existing site
that catered to his hobby of visiting the graves of famous people.
Interest caught on rapidly and FIND A GRAVE has grown to an
unbelievable repository of grave and cemetery information. Here
are some of the interesting and valuable features:
- Contains a record of some 121 million graves
- Has over a 100 million photographs
- Has records of graves worldwide
- Records are added by volunteers
- Records and photos are easily added to your family tree
- Volunteers are available to photograph a grave at your request
- The SDHS [mainly Chris Yoder] and other volunteers have
photographed gravestones in this area. Their photos are viewable
on the
SDHS website as well as on the
FIND A GRAVE website
- You can become a volunteer by joining the organization
- There is no cost to join or to search the site and view the
records
- I highly recommend exploring the site which is reached by going
to: findagrave.com.
- Happy hunting.

Click on the image for a higher resolution copy.
Got questions on how to get going? That is what we
are here for! Call or email us and remember, the SDHS family history
group’s regular meeting schedule is the first and third Thursday
of every month at the OSH.
Upcoming meetings are:
Thursday, June 18
Thursday, July 9
Thursday, July 23
Remember, your family history does not have to have
any connection to the Saugatuck-Douglas area !!!
Still not sure how to get going? Let us provide a
helpful jump start by recording what you know about your parents,
grandparents, and great grandparents and send it along for a
review by Chris Yoder or myself. The snail mail address is SDHS
Family History, Box 617, Douglas, Michigan 49406, or email a copy
to either cyoder@tds.net
or jack.sheridan@gmail.com.
We will soon be back to you with readily found data
and with suggestions on the next steps to take. Further help is
readily available from the Family History group. Again, the only
requirement is membership in the SDHS.
Mayflower ancestor, Revolutionary War vet, great
grandparents? Still wondering? Questions/ comments/advice/needs -
contact Jack Sheridan at
jack.sheridan@gmail.com
269 857-7144 or Chris Yoder at
cyoder@tds.net 269
857-4327.
This newsletter column is produced by Jack
Sheridan

The Baldhead
Panoramas – One by One - Piece by Piece - 9

Click on the picture for a
higher resolution copy.
Be patient, it may take a while to download.
Last September, I started a new HBC series of
panoramic photographs taken from the top of Mt Baldhead. We
history buffs are fortunate to have photos from this great
vantage point over a long time period. The photos appearing
span some fifty years, are accurately dated, and in most cases
the photographer identified.
Other factors make these photos special. First,
earlier photos had few mature trees to block the view. Second,
the photographers used quality cameras with large glass plate
negatives that were capable of capturing details. Though most
of the glass plates are lost, the prints made from them,
faithfully contain the details. When scanned at high
resolution, the images yield marvelous results. By 1920 Herman
Simonson, the photographer, was using film as glass plates
were history.
In
December we had full photos of 1895 and 1906 without
comment. In January,
February and
March we looked at the details one third of the image
each month. In
April we had 1906 and ca 1920, the full view. This
month we will begin to compare the two, the north one third of
the image in this issue.
The 1906 photographer is unknown but may have
been Herman Simonson. The 1906 photographer was not in exactly
the same location on Mt Baldhead as in 1920.
The numbers are keyed to my comments about
points of interest.
30 - The ferry landing - the empty ferry is
visible
31 - The Tourist Home - later renamed the Mt. Baldhead Hotel.
Burned in 1959
32 - Boat Livery owned by John Crow and Doc Heath
33 - Believed to be the first bowling alley - this portion of
the building became the Old Rail Grill
34 - The Maplewood Hotel - exists in modified form today
35 - Koning Hardware - later Wilkins Hardware - fine building
with us today
36 - Congregational Church - newly expanded and remodeled
37 - Saugatuck Union School - the first building burned and
rebuilt in 1896.
This newsletter column is written by Jack Sheridan.
Museum Volunteer
Top 10 List
1. You see something new every time you look at the
exhibit.
2. You get to use the computer map and learn more about our history.
3. You get to peruse all the books . . . for free.
4. You are the face of Saugatuck-Douglas to visitors.
5. You are part of an amazing family of volunteers.
6. You get to attend the "Thank You" chili fest.
7. You are giving back.
8. You become part of history by sharing it.
9. You learn more than you could ever imagine.
10. It's FUN! submitted by
Val Atkin
If you are interested or have questions about being a
volunteer host, just REPLY to this email or call Bill Hess at
269-857-1081
Welcome New Members
We would like to welcome the following new members who have joined the
Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society since the last newsletter.
l
Peter Stanley, Fennville, MI
l
Bob & Ann Horner, Fennville, MI
l
Ralph Hamilton, Evanston, IL & Douglas, MI
l
Robert Jacobsma, Douglas, MI
l
Gerard & Suzanne Carmody, Douglas, MI & St. Louis, MO
Saugatuck 1937 Blossom
Queen Passes Away
 |
Vivian Powers Chambers, age 94, passed away on Thursday, May
21, 2015 in Wyoming, MI. She was the
widow of Robert Chambers and daughter of the late Melbourne
and Mary Powers of Douglas. |
Her paternal grandfather was Douglas postmaster and Civil War
veteran Charles Powers (held prisoner for 17 days by the
Confederates before escaping) and her maternal grandfather was
Henry Randall (a captain on the Great Lakes and the last
survivor of Singapore, having been born there in 1864 and died
in 1957).In 1933, she, her sister Betty and
the Pamperien girls won the costume contest at the Big Pavilion
(Click
HERE for the story) And in 1937 she was chosen Saugatuck
"Blossom Queen".
submitted by Chris
Yoder |
Digital Museum Visitor's Guest
Book

The new
Digital Museum Visitor's Guest Book has been installed and will
replace the old paper guest book. The new electronic Guest Book is
very easy for our visitors to complete. There will be an incentive
for guests to "sign" the guest book. Each week we will hold a
drawing from the names of those that have registered. The winner
will receive a SDHS book on area history. For the months of May
and June, the book will be Snapshots: A Photographic History of
Saugatuck, Michigan.
|
Douglas Accepts
Ownership of the Root Beer Barrel
It has taken five years of vision, donation of time
and money, sweat and negotiation, but the Douglas Barrel is
scheduled for resurrection at its new home on the southwest corner
of Ferry and Center Streets in Douglas in the coming months. Some
wondered where it had gone and if they would ever see it again.
As most of you know, this Douglas icon was originally
constructed and placed on Center Street in the 1940s and became a
popular stop on the way to and from the beach for a cold root beer
and a hot dog. Fearing that it would soon become victim to
a bulldozer, Friends of the Barrel gathered to save it.
Over the years, the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical
Society has negotiated with the City of the Village of Douglas to
become owner and protector of the Barrel. On June 1, Douglas City
Council approved a contract with the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical
Society granting ownership to the City. Over the previous months,
Sharon Kelley, Duane Brown and Vic Bella worked closely with the
City to get the Barrel on its final roll. Additionally, Brent
Birkholz and Charles Carlson supported the project with engineering
and architectural expertise. Hats off to all the volunteers, donors,
and friends near and far who are continuing to again make the Barrel
the attraction it once was.
Click
HERE to read the City of the Village of Douglas Proclamation
accepting ownership of the Barrel. submitted by Duane Brown
and Vic Bella

Douglas Mayor Jim Wiley (center) accepts a symbolic piece of Barrel
redwood from Duane Brown and Vic Bella at the signing ceremony.
Mark Your Calendar
2015 Monthly Programs and Tuesday Talks
If you would like
to sponsor one of the Monthly Programs or Tuesday Talks, please
REPLY to this email and we'll be in touch. Sponsorships are $150
MONTHLY PROGRAMS
l
July 8,
A Field Trip to the
Mildred A. Peterson Nature Preserve and the Interurban Trail
sponsored by Monty Collins & Jerry Dark
l
August 12, Society
Picnic at the Old School House
SPECIAL PROGRAM ADDITION
l
August 13, Civil
War Reenactors Program
Looking for a sponsor
l
September 9,
Fishing:
Commercial & Recreational
sponsored by Howard & Paula Schultz
l
October 14,
Crane's Orchard
Field Trip
Looking for a sponsor
l
November 11,
Fire, Storm and
Ice: Shipwrecks sponsored by the
Star of Saugatuck, Marilyn & Bruce Starring
l
December 13, Holiday
Party

General sponsors:
Carolyn Richards
and Howard Rochte
l July
7, Trailblazing: Bringing the Blue Star Trail to
Saugatuck-Douglas
sponsored by Bill & Nancy Woods
l July
14, Dunes, Lake and River. A
Photographic History Tour
sponsored by
Sharon Kelly
l July
21, Bee Keeping
sponsored by
Osman Flowers
& Firs
NEW ADDITION TO THE
TUESDAY TALKS
l July
28, Kalamazoo River Sturgeon Habitat Restoration Project
Looking for a sponsor
l August
4, Peach Belt School
sponsored By Fred & Janet Schmidt in memory of
Fran Vorys
l August
11, Invasive Species: On Land and Water sponsored by
Harbor Duck
Adventures Co., Brent Birkholz
l August
18, The Art of Water
sponsored by
Ken Carls
l August
25, Extreme Yachts and Classic Boat Restoration - Macatawa Bay
Boat Works
sponsored by the Star of Saugatuck, Marilyn &
Bruce Starring
Garden Happenings
"Every weed is a flower once you get to know
it."
--- Eeyore
Well, that's one way to look at it. With all this
rain, the weeds have really popped, and it takes constant
maintenance to keep them at bay. If anyone would like to do some
time pulling weeds, and yes that means our pathway too, please
contact Ruth Johnson at
ruthannj@frontier.com. John and Lee do their best, but it
really takes someone once a week pulling them.
Speaking of John and Lee, congratulations to them and
the recognition of their contributions at the new Japanese Garden at
Fredrik Meijer Gardens. We are so blessed to have them on our
landscape committee. We are also very happy to have our new intern,
Sam Fitzpatrick, helping us on a number of projects. One project is
gathering information for a walking and audio tour through our
garden - eventually! Many thanks.
We want to remind everyone about the pruning seminar
this Saturday, June 20 at 10 am. Our own John Migas will teach
participants on the proper pruning and care of broadleaf evergreens
in their own gardens. Donations would be appreciated.

Root Camp is one week away with many
preparations happening. A lot of work goes into this little camp of
ours, and we are so appreciative of all the help we are getting. Not
only will we have our amazing Jr. Counselors back for another year,
but we will also have three honor students: Jenna, Baye Lee, and
Allie Braschler helping us out as Sr Counselors. They were highly
recommended by Christina Lewis, our children's program director. Sam
will also help us. YAY!
We still have a few openings for
camp available.
If you know of someone who would like to go to camp,
please direct them to our
website and fill out our registration form. Thanks to those
of you who signed your grandkids up. It is so nice to have support
from our members.
Until next month,
The Landscape and Root Camp Committees
Frances Lenore Vorys,
88

Fran Vorys, a Life Member
of the Society, Museum Exhibit sponsor and long time supporter of
the Society's Newsletter, died on May 22, 2015 due to
complications from pneumonia. Per her request, she has been
cremated and will be interred at the Columbarium at St. John's
Northwestern Military Academy, Delafield, Wisconsin on October 2,
2015. At that time, the Old Boys Club of which Fran was an
honorary member since 1987, and the Cadets of Northwestern will
celebrate Fran's life.
Fran married her
husband Harry September 30, 1950 and he predeceased her May 20,
2007. Also predeceasing Fran were her parents Francis and Lenore
and her sister Henrietta (Betty) Staicer. Fran is survived by her
brother Charles, nieces and nephews and a close personal friend,
Charles Harthy, also of Freedom Village.
She served on the
board of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and was President of the
Friends of the Arts Center. She served as a member of the Leaders
Circle at St. John's. Fran and Harry moved to Saugatuck in 1985
and built what was known as "The Aerie" with a spectacular view of
the Kalamazoo Lake. She was active with the Saugatuck Douglas
Garden Club and the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society.
In 2013, Fran
moved to Freedom Village in Holland where she continued to expand
her art collection and enjoyed singing along with her fellow
residents each Saturday morning. Her love of the arts took her
near and far throughout her life. No local services are planned.
Please remember Fran through the two loves of her life, St. John's
Northwestern Military Academy, 1101 Genesee Street, Delafield,
Wisconsin 53018 or the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society, PO
Box 617, Douglas, Michigan. 49406.
Mt. Baldhead - A Challenge
Throughout the Years

Artwork from "Tales of the Villages", SDHS 2003
In June of 1870, the Allegan
JOURNAL wrote that the Fat Men's Association of Allegan was coming
down the river to Saugatuck "to bathe in the waters and sniff the
fresh breezes of Lake Michigan"
"They have voted to mount "Bald
Head", the highest and nearly perpendicular bluff at the entrance
of the Kalamazoo River into Lake Michigan. The members of the F.M.
A. have sworn in their associated capacity, that they shall climb
this hill and roll on the fine, beautiful, clear sand of "bald
head", or die in the attempt! We admire the noble resolutions of
the F.M.A., for that body is composed of men of spirit and
determination. The weather is hot and an ascension of "bald head"
fatiguing and exhaustive in its character, particularly during
sultry weather."
"We
would advise the Village marshal, Smalley, and that honorable and
august body – the Saugatuck Common Council, to make ample
arrangements for the reception of the ponderosities of Allegan
County and that they be treated with due consideration becoming
men of their weight."
"Those
base and craven hearted wretches – the lank and lean, will, of
course, take advantage of the arrival of the expedition to
Saugatuck, to obtrude upon the excursionists a few of their coarse
unseeming evil and disreputable jests, and thus attempt to mar the
pleasure of a benevolent and charitable association, bent on
pleasure and amusement. But the jokes of pigmies on such a
momentous occasion as this excursion can never disturb the
serenity of the F. M. A."
"The
JOURNAL in the Fat Man's Organ and will stand by them through good
and through evil report. Of course the editor of the JOURNAL will
accompany the expedition and participate in the invasion of
Saugatuck and the ascension of "bald head," however difficult
these marches may be."
Yes, even today, intrepid souls of
varying substance still come to "Take the Challenge" as will be
seen on September 12th of this year when the 16th
Annual Mt. Baldhead Challenge 5 and 15k race is conducted by the
Saugatuck-Douglas Rotary Club. Michigan Runner magazine calls it
one of Michigan's "25 most interesting races." Runners of the 15k
race will take on all 302 of the Mt. Baldhead's steps as they
conquer our beloved and mighty mount. Tell your runner friends and
family.

Click
HERE for
registration information.
submitted by Chris Yoder
Erwin (Bud) Sewers
Passes Away

Erwin H. (Bud) Sewers, 92, passed away on May 28,
2015, at Grace of Douglas. Bud was a lifelong multigenerational
resident of Saugatuck dating back to the 19th century. He proudly
served in the United States Army during World War II in the South
Pacific. In his younger days he was a commercial fisherman in
Saugatuck like many of his relatives. Bud retired from Elhart
Pontiac in Holland (Bud loved cars) in 1985. His father Frank
Sewers was Mayor of Saugatuck during a historic period in which
the road was cut through and a dedication ceremony was held for
the Oval Beach.

Frank Sewers (left) Daughter Jean (center)
at Oval Dedication in 1936
Click on the image for a higher resolution copy
Copies of many of his family
photographs and recorded interviews with him about local history
are a part of the SDHS digital archives as the "Bud Sewers
Collection". One of the stories he shared is presented below.
A Secret Revealed |
 |
 |
Bud (left) and Paul (right) on their Bikes
Click on either image for a higher resolution copy |
Question: Do you remember when
they built the new bridge?
Bud: Oh yeah. That’s when I
stole the dynamite. (He laughs). Paul Moker and I were kids on the
river and we saw every day what went on (both were neighbors
on the first block of Lake Street off Blue Star). And I said to
him "They've got dynamite and dynamite fuse, let's you and I go
over there at night with a boat when no one is around and we’ll
make a fire cracker." We came back and the next day we rowed out
to the piling, and I put the fuse in the dynamite and put it up on
that pole and lit the fuse. And then we rowed like the devil and
got back and we waited and waited and nothing happened. I said I
guess it was broke. Come to find out that you had to have a cap,
and they didn't leave the cap cause it would blow your fingers
right off if you don't handle them right. We didn't know it . . .
thought we'd have a big fire cracker."

New Bridge (From The Bud Sewers Collection)
Click on the image for a higher resolution copy
submitted by Chris Yoder |
ABOUT THE SOCIETY
To become a member or renew
your membership select from the following categories:
Individual |
$50 |
Household |
$70 |
Premium |
$300 |
Corporate |
$500 |
Life |
$1,000 |
Senior
(65+) |
$30 |
Senior
Household |
$45 |
Send check payable to the Saugatuck-Douglas
Historical Society to: PO Box 617, Douglas, Michigan 49406. You can
also click
HERE
for a Society Membership Application.
Send items for the newsletter to: Fred Schmidt, PO
Box 617, Douglas MI 49406 or email
info@sdhistoricalsociety.org
New Historical Society Museum Exhibit Examines
Area's Relationship With Water

This year's all-new exhibition at the
Saugatuck-Douglas History Museum, opened for the season on Memorial
Day weekend, Sunday, May 24. The exhibition presents multiple
stories of how the Kalamazoo River and Lake Michigan have shaped and
reshaped our area's way of living, working, relaxing and thinking
since the mid-1800s.

The Museum occupies the historic Saugatuck Pump House
at 735 Park Street, in a scenic garden setting along the west shore
of the Kalamazoo River at Mt. Baldhead Park, a short walk north from
the Saugatuck Chain Ferry's west-bank landing. Open daily through
Labor Day, Noon to 4 p.m. -- then with same hours every Saturday and
Sunday through the last Sunday in October -- admission and
nearby parking are free.
Water . . . A River, A Lake, A Place Called
Saugatuck-Douglas engages visitors' imaginations to
accompany five travelers, each at different points in time, sharing
the experience, discovery and sometimes danger of their adventures
along our waterways. Their trips unfold in maps, pictures,
narratives and artifacts, plus "side stories" that add interesting
cultural perspectives, all set before a vast composite mural of more
than 200 historical archive photos that help visualize those earlier
times.

In Trip #1, the viewer assumes the role of reporter
for an eastern newspaper traveling downriver by dugout canoe in the
mid-1800s with Ottawa trader "Flying Cloud Woman", seeking the
village of Singapore and its fabled "Astor Hotel". The "Astor" turns
out to be a humorously named simple boarding house for arriving
settlers instead of the imagined grandeur conjured up by naming it
after wealthy fur-trading magnate John Jacob Astor.

Trip #2 casts the viewer as a mid-1800s logger hired
by Saugatuck timber entrepreneur Frank Geer in winter to cut and
haul logs over the frozen river to a riverbank "rollway". With the
spring thaw comes the dangerous job of rafting a log flotilla
downriver, thwarting log "rustlers", and distributing the timber
among five lumber mills in Douglas, Saugatuck and Singapore . . .a
process that cost the life of one of Saugatuck's prominent early
citizens.
With Trip #3, the viewer becomes a crew member on the
steamer McVea, one of more than 200 ships built in Saugatuck, making
an overnight "fruit run" taking peaches and passengers to Chicago in
1893. The McVea stops at Pier Cove and picks up a musician and a
famous architect who become interesting travel companions.

Trip #4 brings the viewer to Saugatuck from Chicago
by tourist excursion ship in 1919 as a teenage girl accompanying
school children to summer camp as one of their camp counselors.
Among the campers she encounters a youngster destined to become one
of America's most famous aviators.
On Trip #5, the viewer is a photographer riding along
on a local commercial fishing run pursuing sturgeon and whitefish,
reflecting on that industry's1890-1950 boom and bust. The trip
highlights a key Great Lakes innovation of that era, the enclosed
"fishing tug" designed to handle rough weather and allow
pre-processing the catch for faster, fresher delivery upon returning
to port.

After the final trip station, visitors will find a
"sticky-note feedback wall" presenting a series of questions related
to contemporary concerns about water, and inviting expression of
personal viewpoints or suggestions by posting sticky-note responses.
Nearby, three display stations feature a review of water quality
comparing lake, river, rain and tap water; a collection of rare
antique fishing lures; and for visitors of all ages, a
fish-identification game.

Floating above it all is a fanciful "school" of fish,
created by local artists Ted Reyda and Sally Winthers, representing
the species currently inhabiting our area’s lakes and rivers.

This year's exhibition also introduces a new digital
sign-in station for visitors, to better reflect the geographical
range of distant visitors and enable them to request e-mail updates
on Museum and other Historical Society activities.
Design team credits for the new exhibition include:
James Schmiechen, curator-writer; Judy Hillman, designer; Ken Carls,
Kay Reckley and Sally Winthers, graphic designers; Vic Bella and Ted
Reyda, displays; Steve Teich, layout; Jarrett Zeman, consultant;
Jack Sheridan and Kit Lane, story consultants; and Sam Fitzpatrick,
intern.

--- Award-Winning Book, Interactive Map Featured ---
Continuing the Society's tradition of offering books
created to accompany exhibits past and present, the Museum's south
gallery gift shop again highlights Storm, Fire, and Ice.
Shipwrecks of the Saugatuck Area. Written by Historical Society
members Jack Sheridan and Kit Lane, this popular book tells the
tales of local ship disasters from the 19th century to the present,
including the mysterious wreck of the "Chicora." Designed by Society
member Ken Carls, with 68 illustrations, this 72-page soft-cover
book won a Michigan Museums Association Design Excellence Award.
The south gallery also features the Society's popular
"SuperMap" -- a 6-foot high, 12-foot wide illustrated color wall map
of the Saugatuck-Douglas area with an interactive computer display
to provide a virtual tour through these historic villages,
highlighting significant people, places and events of both past and
present. Map artwork, created by Holland artist-cartographer Mark
Cook based on Historical Society research, recalls the entertaining
illustration/poster maps of the 1940-50 era, combining street
layouts with stylized sketches and notes.
The map offers Museum visitors an engaging way to
soak up the story of the Saugatuck-Douglas area. As many as 70
map-highlighted references are keyed by number to let visitors
select and learn about sites of interest by calling up information,
narratives and images using several video/interactive touch-screen
terminals near the map. The screens also offer topical "interactive
programs" such as History of Hotels/Boarding Houses; History of
Boatbuilding and Boat Builders; Buildings and Architecture; Artists
and Painting; Local Biographies; History of Saugatuck-Douglas
Schools; 13 Tales of the Villages and A Video History of
Saugatuck and Douglas.
In addition, the terminals allow public access to the
Historical Society's digitized archives of historical photos, pages
of The Commercial Record dating back to 1868, the
Saugatuck-Douglas Building Survey and more.
Founded in 1992 by the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical
Society, the History Museum is open daily Noon to 4pm from Memorial
Day weekend through Labor Day, then Saturdays/Sundays through
September and October. Admission and parking are free. Tel: (269)
857-7900.
Click
HERE to learn more about the Museum and
recent past exhibits.
The Old School House History
Center and Lifeboat Display is located at 130 Center Street in Douglas. For group tours, please contact Steve Hutchins at
616-801-3735 or by email at
hutch343@frontier.com
The Society's Technology Center is located in the
lower level of the Old School House History Center at 130 Center
Street in downtown Douglas.
The Society's Archives office is located in the lower
level of the Old School House and is open for research on Monday
afternoons 1-4 p.m. Use the back stairway for easy access. The Archives
office phone number is 269-857-7901. E-mail:
archives@sdhistoricalsociety.org
Society Phone: 269 857-5751
Museum Phone: 269 857-7900
Tech Center Phone 269 857-7901
www.sdhistoricalsociety.org
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