220 Water/Coral Gables/Hotel Saugatuck/Columbia Hotel/Leiendecker's InnBig Pavilion 1909-1960

2022.21

William R. "Bill" Simmons 1891 - 1966 The Big Pavilion Lake Kalamazoo 1955 | enlarged image of original photo Notes: William Roscoe "Bill" Simmons, born in Kansas, had an isatiable thirst for photographing nature. When he returned from World War I, Simmons first worked in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Chicago Evening Post and, beginning in 1932, in the Chicago office of Time-Life, Inc. In the 1940s, Simmons moved to Saugatuck, Michigan to pursue his hobby of photography as a vocation. In his studio on Butler Street, he did portraits by appointment, developed film for tourists and matted and framed scenic photographs of the area. He also created postcards. At different times, Bill was also an editor for the Commercial Record, Saugatuck's local newspaper. Bill Simmons died in Douglas on February 11, 1966, at the age of 75. (adapted from the publication, Off The Record by James Schmeichen with Jack Sheridan and Kit Lane. This image shows a typical summer day on the water side of the Big Pavilion. Collection: Saugatuck Douglas History Center