Collection Item - Saugatuck-Douglas History Center

Village Patchwork 2011 exhibit

Archive

Scope and ContentThree CDs of draft wall graphics from the 2011 SDHS Museum exhibit "Village Patchwork." Most files are PDFs. Draft exhibit panels and text are included in this entry.

Beginings: William Butler and the founding of Saugatuck, with side bar about Douglas and Dudleyville; No Covered Wagon for the Butlers
William G. Butler, the founder of Saugatuck and the first white
settler in Allegan County didn’t exactly rush into the area. He
was born in Connecticut and, as an adult, moved to Pennsylvania
where he ran a store, found a wife and was married. Butler, his
wife, Mary and at least one child moved on to Elkhart, Indiana,
where he attempted to run a store with little success. In 1830,
hearing of the money to be gained by land speculation in the
Territory of Michigan, he went exploring on horseback to find
a likely settlement site.
He returned to Elkhart, packed up his wife and (by this time) two
children, and took a riverboat up the St. Joseph River to St.
Joseph at the mouth where he bought passage on a passing sailing
vessel heading north on Lake Michigan. When they arrived at the
mouth of the Kalamazoo River the sailboat anchored off shore
while Butler and family, with all of their belongings (tradition has
it, including a covered soup tureen) were rowed ashore in a small
boat. The captain waved, wished them a happy settlement, and
sailed away.
Douglas began in 1851 when Robert A. McDonald,
William Scovill and Michael B. Spencer of Saugatuck
bought farmland on the south side of the river.
For a while, they tilled the soil, but did not live there.
At the same time, actual settlement was undertaken
by Jonathan Wade and family who built the first mill
and then resided on a section they called Dudleyville.
It was not until 1861 that William F. Dutcher, formerly
of Pennsylvania, arrived with 12 members of
his family and and platted a small village which he
called Douglas.

Village Work; Early Sawmill Shenanigans
Sawmills were important early industries, and there were times
the area’s rootin’ tootin’ image was well earned. Henry Hudson
Hutchins tells the story of one sawmill incident in the 1850s:
“A lumber dealer from Chicago visited the Singapore saw mill
and one of the mill hands took occasion to impose upon him
repeatedly. Finally another burley young fellow, Hank Elliot,
asked the dealer why he didn’t thrash the tough. The dealer said
he wanted to, but he didn’t think himself man enough to accomplish
it. After some talk it was arranged that the next time the
fellow should carry his amusement, Hank would take it up and
thrash the mill hand, and the next time he went to Chicago, the
dealer would bring Hank a gallon of whiskey.
When the mill hand renewed his antics and Hank suggested that
he had carried that kind of treatment far enough, the two went
out doors to settle it. It was a very even match, but finally Hank
got in a knockout blow. True to his word the Chicago gentleman
brought the whiskey and managed to turn it over to Hank.
After a while Hank and the fellow he had whipped were discovered
off behind a slab pile, both very drunk, with the jug of
whiskey between them.”
In1869 two sawmills operated at Singapore, a company
town at the bend of the Kalamazoo River before
Lake Michigan. By 1875 there was little timber left
in the area and the large mill, at right, was dismantled
and moved to St. Ignace. Many of the buildings
were moved into Saugatuck, or the lumber used in
other projects.

Going to Town; Hot Times in Saugatuck
The busy saloons during the lumbering era assured
Saugatuck a reputation for fun – even after a visit from
prohibitionist Susan B. Anthony put a temporary damper
on things in 1879.
But the legendary days of Saugatuck as a good time place
began during World War II, when it was declared a liberty
port, and into the 1950s when the spirit of revelry continued.
Then a national news magazine declared Saugatuck
“a hot town” which didn’t help. After a particularly raucous
Memorial Day weekend in 1952 created a public outcry
to “buy back the streets,” Joe Dempski, a former big
city policeman, was hired as police chief to enforce the
traffic, parking and liquor ordinances. Things gradually
calmed down, although there were still long lines of people
waiting to get into the bars, and crowds of underage visitors
getting into mischief.
One classic case was a Volkswagon, which was lifted into
the Village Square in Saugatuck where it was fitted snugly
between two trees. The police didn’t have time to drive
those they arrested to the nearest jail in Allegan, so the Justice
of the Peace set up court in his house on holiday weekends
where the arresting officer would take the accused “to
court.” If found guilty the fine could be paid on the spot.

Getting Around; Floating Down the River in a Wagon
The present Saugatuck Chain ferry grew out of an accident in
1857 that occurred when an old bridge at that site collapsed.
This was a partially floating swing bridge that crossed the Kalamazoo
River near the foot of Mary Street built in the 1840s that
could be opened for large vessels. However, it was poorly built
and boats kept knocking it until one day in 1857 it collapsed
and dumped a wagon and oxen and two ladies into the river, all
of which floated gracefully along until the driver could summon
aid to the rescue.
A decade later, a more permanent bridge was constructed upriver
at the site of today’s Saugatuck-to-Douglas bridge. It was
in sections, one of which was a tree-lined causeway, one a trestle
bridge of sorts, and another was (at first) a draw bridge (later
a swing bridge) to allow boats to go upriver. The present much
shortened bridge was built in 1938 to convey the Blue Star
Memorial Highway over the river and has been improved and
widened several times.

Serving the Public; The Day the Postman Came to My House
A third grader named Jimmy who lived in Douglas in 1972 could
hardly wait for “show and tell” time at school one Friday afternoon.
His family had received a special delivery letter, and, because
they lived within ¼ of a mile of the post office the postmaster had
actually brought it to his house. The rest of the third grade was
awe-stuck reminding them of the mailman on Sesame Street and in
children’s books who brings the mail right to your house! And he
walks from place to place carrying a big mail bag!
Jimmy and his fellow third-graders had reason for surprise. People
who live in small communities do not have mail delivery. Most
Saugatuck and Douglas folks have to go to the post office for their
mail every day. “Getting the mail” at the post office is a daily ritual,
except Sundays, and offers a chance to meet friends and neighbors
and swap news.
Then, beginning about 1980 new residents who were accustomed
to home mail delivery moved here and began petitioning for rural
route delivery, even within the boundaries of the village, if they
lived the requisite distance from the post office building (1/4 mile
as the crow flies). The first Saugatuck rural route was established in
February of 1985. But most of the people who live within the villages,
and some who don’t, still go to the post office for their mail.
Photo caption: Douglas postmistress, Lena Bryan, and
postal clerk, Jerry Bekken, shown here in a
1970 photo. Bekken once astounded a thirdgrader
by actually delivering a special delivery
letter to his house.

Caring - Doctor Robert J. Walker; “Let’s Take a Look at that Schedule...

Learning; Consolidation, Early and Late
The first public school in Saugatuck Township which opened
in 1838 was, in a manner of speaking, a consolidated school.
Since none of the three areas where people resided at that
time – the community by the lake which would become Saugatuck;
Singapore, the sawmill town near the mouth of the river,
or the gathering around the Plummer sawmill at the outlet
from Goshorn Lake – had enough student-aged children to
form a school they consolidated and opened one small school
with a single teacher. The first school building, a partially log
structure with a dirt floor, was constructed on the old dugout
road near the river, equally inconvenient for them all. By the
1850s Saugatuck and Douglas had begun separate school systems
which would continue for more than a century before finally
consolidating in 1963 with an elementary school on the
southern edge of Douglas, and a Junior-Senior High school
on the hill in Saugatuck. Efforts by the state to foster consolidation
with Fennville were not successful. The first ballot
in 1970 lost in Saugatuck, 401-488, but passed in Fennville,
621-323. The second in 1971 was approved in Saugatuck,
524-363 but lost in Fennville. Then both districts gave up on
the idea and constructed new high schools.

Gathering Together; Crossing the Bridge Together
One of the advantages of a small town is that the people interested
in a specific program are easy to call together. A
letter in the newspaper or sending notes home with school
children, can garner enough interested people to insure continuation
of the summer swimming lessons, to create a holiday
parade, start a genealogy group or spearhead a movement
to raise millions of dollars to purchase property north
of the Oval Beach for a natural area.
An example of this history of “gathering”is the annual
Labor Day Bridgewalk, a walk inspired by a similar event
which takes place on the five mile long Mackinac Bridge
which links Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The
Saugatuck-Douglas 600 feet Kalamazoo River bridgewalk
occurs annually early Labor Day morning with as much
pomp as can be mustered—led by Father Corey Stoppel, a
bagpiper. The .19 kilometer (about 600 feet) length of the
bridge, includes a stop for refreshment in mid-walk, and
a certificate of completion issued to those who are able to
go the entire distance.

What do the names, Saugatuck and Douglas mean?; Saugatuck is an Algonquin Indian word which
means “on a lake near the river’s mouth.” Saugatuck
is situated on Lake Kalamazoo
near the river’s mouth.
The village was platted in
1834 as Kalamazoo, but
there was already a post office
named Kalamazoo in
Calhoun County community
on the same river, so in 1835 the Allegan County
town applied for a post office named Saugatuck. It is
uncertain whether the word was from the local Indians,
or whether the Michigan Saugatuck was named
for the town of Saugatuck, Connecticut (later part of
Westport), where the geographic situation is identical
and the Indians spoke
a similar language. When
the village was incorporated
in 1868 a petition was
written out asking for incorporation
as the village
of “Belle Haven.” However,
at some point in the
proceedings, Saugatuck,
the name of the post office,
was written on a separate piece of paper and glued
over Belle Haven. The petition in the Allegan County
files still shows this alteration.
Douglas is named for Douglas, the capital of the
Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea. It is where the
Dhoo (“gray” in Manx) and the Glass (“clear”) rivers
meet. The Michigan town was named by Frederic
H. May, who had been born in Douglas, Isle of Man,
when his father was headmaster of a school there.
Jonathan Wade who owned the land south of Center
Street, founded his own settlement called Dudleyville,
named for his brother. In 1870 the entire
area of both communities was incorporated as the
Village of Douglas. The name appealed to the Dudleyville
residents because they were mostly Democrats
and had been supporters of Stephen A. Douglas
against Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election
of 1860.

How big and how populated are the villages?; In 2000 the population of Saugatuck was 1,065 with
a land area of 1.2 square miles. Douglas was slightly
larger with 1,214 people and land area of 1.8 square
miles. As many as 40 percent of the houses of the
area are owned by non-residents who live in them
for varying periods of the year. Some retirees and
others without business commitments go to warmer
climes in the winter but live in the area from April
to November (or the first snow, whichever happens
first). Others, especially those who are still working
full time, spend weekdays at their other home, driving
over here most weekends.

What is the longest lasting business in town?; The longest lasting was the hardware store at
439 Butler Street, Saugatuck. In 1865 John Nies
returned from Civil War service and looked around to
see what sort of business Saugatuck lacked. He decided
on a hardware store. The first Nies Hardware
was a wooden building near the Village Square. By the
time it burned in 1903 and
was replaced with a structure
of red pressed brick, Nies sold
the business to his former apprentice,
John Koning. In
1920 it was sold it to Heath
Crow and Jean Simondson,
former employees who maintained
the building with the
dumbwaiter to haul things
up from the basement, and
old open nail bins surrounding
the counter. Ron and
Bonnie Wilkins were the last to operate it as a
hardware store.
The second oldest business is the weekly newspaper
the Commercial Record which was established
in July of 1868, and has been continuous since that
date (except for two weeks when the editor resigned
in a huff in 1886). It was published in Saugatuck
and first called the Saugatuck Commercial, later the
Lakeshore Commercial, and then simply The Commercial
until the spring of 1902 when it merged with
the Douglas Weekly Record to become the Commercial
Record.

Do they serve any food in this place?; Today there are over 20 food service establishments
in Saugatuck, another 12 in Douglas, and
9 more in the Township. Most are open even
after summer is over. This is a remarkable number
for towns with a combined population of just over
2,000. People in Saugatuck have always eaten well.
A newspaper editor who visited in 1859 praised the
food at the local hotel, even though he wasn’t impressed
with anything else in town.
Beginning about 1870, what and
where to eat became an important
part of the area economy.
A secondary benefit is that the
young people of the town received
early and extensive experience
in the food service industry
as wait staff and cooks.
In the earliest days fried chicken was top of the menu
because birds young and tender enough to fry were
only available in the spring and summer when it was
warm enough to hatch chicks. Oysters, which had to
be imported from the East Coast, were popular in the
1870s and 1880s, and steaks and chops were major
draws on the menu beginning about 1920. Today’s
top chefs specialize in locally grown fresh produce —
and food-street fairs and “socials” bring thousands
to the area.
Photo caption -- A restaurant run by Jim Davis, with rooms
for rent upstairs, shown in a photograph
taken about 1901. The two-story structure
was located on Butler Street to the north of
the Leland Building, and in 1910, was the
area’s first Chinese restaurant, the Chop
Suey. It later was one venue of the popular
Soda Lounge, before being razed in 1968
along with the old bank building next door.
Photo caption -- Eleanor Koning, left, and friends
were some of the Saugatuck youngsters
to gain early experience in the
restaurant business, probably at Tara
in Douglas, which was owned by Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Koning.

Shopping for ice cream — a way of life?; Ice Cream! In the summer of 2010 there were 15 establishments
serving ice cream in the villages and Saugatuck
Township carrying on a tradition which began in
the 1880s when the first ice cream factory opened in
Saugatuck. When the drug store built a new building in
1913, a long soda fountain was installed, where it was
rumored the chocolate soda was invented. Shop keepers
who dip the frozen dessert say that this area is one of
the few places they have
ever been where customers
actually shop for their
ice cream cones, going
down the street noting
flavors available, prices,
types of cones, and the
length of the lines waiting,
before deciding what
and where to buy.

Why do Saugatuck folks get so excited about their only stoplight?; In years past, Saugatuck’s sole traffic light was
shut off completely at Labor Day and, to better protect
it from winter weather, it was
wrapped in the raincoat belonging
to the Chief of Police, who also retired
for the winter. In spring residents
and the high school band
would gather at the corner as the
turning on of the light marked the
arrival of “the season.” The mayor
would officially switch over to
red-yellow-green operation – and
all would cheer.

What? A train and hot dancing brought electricity to Saugatuck?
There was never a steam train in either town, but an
electric “Interurban” arrived in Saugatuck in
1899 and ran to Holland, with connections to Grand
Rapids, until 1927 with a station at the corner of
Butler and Culver Streets. Although nearby towns
had household electricity before the turn of the century,
Saugatuck lagged behind, partially because power
could be obtained by tapping the lines which ran the
interurban. There were times that so much electricity
was being diverted from the power line that the train
could barely move. The enormous Big Pavilion, a
dance hall of 1909 by the river in Saugatuck, had its
arches and windows, both outside and inside, outlined
in thousands of electric lights. To get the power for this
they built their own generator with a towering chimney
just south of the building. This showcased what
electricity could do, and, in 1912, a steam plant was
enlarged to provide power in Saugatuck every evening
from sundown to 11 pm. Later the housewives petitioned
the village to turn on the power every Monday
during the day so that they could use their electric
irons.

Have the villages ever been on a major highway?; Yes. US 31 went right through the middle
of both towns! To understand the roads of the area
prior to 1936 you need to erase from your mind both
I-196 and the Blue Star Memorial Hi ghway
(A2). Both are at least partially diagonal roads which
cut across the traditional grid system.
When the Blue Star Highway was proposed in 1936,
taking away the US 31 route signs, the business people
of Saugatuck wrote a letter to the editor which
wailed, “We know that next year our summer traffic
will be using the new highway instead of coming
into the village. Well, what are we going to do about
it?” Nothing was accomplished but some gnashing of
teeth and, except for a few motels, which there was
no room to build in the village limits anyway, little
was built on the highway to draw business away from
the villages.

Why did farmers start the first area telephone company?; The first telephone system, before 1900, was the Saugatuck-
Ganges Telephone Company and one of its major
purposes was for fruit growers to communicate
with the piers at Pier Cove. If the weather was too
rough, or the boat too full, he would carry his fruit
to Fennville and put it on the train. In summertime
in the 1920s as the tourist trade began to boom, the
local telephone operators depended on local boys to
deliver (for a tip) incoming messages to visitors in
cottages or living on their yachts.
When the Saugatuck-Ganges Telephone Company
began in 1895, it was the first cooperative telephone
company in Michigan, and probably in the country.
Some of the rural lines had as many as 15 customers
on a party line. Dial phones arrived in 1940 with the
local exchange Ulysses 7, but for calls within the exchange
you one only needed to dial the last four numbers.
Then one morning about 1970, with no advance
warning, residents had to dial the whole number. To
this day when many local people are asked their telephone
number they will give you only the last four
numbers.

Has there ever been a major fire in Saugatuck or Douglas?; Although individual buildings have burned over the
years, there has never been a village-wide fire in either
Saugatuck or Douglas. A fire department, organized
in Saugatuck in 1870, is credited with saving the
village from destruction during the fires of October
1871 which burned Chicago, Fennville and Holland.
Nevertheless, there have been many big fires, for the
villages are largely constructed
with wood.
One of Douglas’s first
major fires was when
the fire station, with the
engine inside, burned
to the ground in 1902.
The most dramatic fire
in Douglas was the
burning of the basket factory in 1927 when a warehouse
of baskets produced flames that were seen in
Muskegon. The largest fire in Saugatuck
was the burning of the Big Pavilion on May 6, 1960,
which drew 16 trucks from 12 west Michigan fire
departments.
Until about 1980 both villages had a fire siren to call
the volunteer firemen. For those who arrived at the fire
barn too late to go out with the trucks, the location
of the fire would be written on a blackboard. Residents
could gauge the size and importance of a fire
by listening to the sirens. If one village fire siren was
followed rapidly by the siren in the second village, it
was probably a big fire. The two village fire departments
were discontinued in favor of a township-wide
department in 1976 and radio communication was
established with each individual fireman.

Where was the first hospital?; The area’s first hospital was begun in the old Kirby
house on Center Street in Douglas, just west of the
Blue Star Highway by Faith (Kirby) Nevins a nurse
who worked with Dr. R. J. Walker. It had three beds
and an operating room on the second floor. When a
patient was scheduled for surgery they would call on
the men who worked at the gas station on the corner
to help them carry the stretcher up the steep stairs.
After 1935 the hospital (eventually it had six beds)
was run by a Hospital Corporation. In 1956 the Kirby
home could not meet new standards for renewal of
its license. A fund drive was begun in 1957, for a new
building on the south edge of Douglas with the first
donation from Lloyd J. Harriss of the local pie company.
The new structure was dedicated in the summer
of 1960. The old hospital building is now the Kirby
House Bed & Breakfast. The new building served until
1985 when the hospital ceased operation.

Did the settlers really have to wait 30 years for a church?; Saugatuck and Douglas mirror an assortment of ethnic,
religious, and even architectural interests—and
tell how they engaged in community and even national
events.
These developments seem slow when compared to the
Dutch settlers to the north congregations already organized
and accompanied by their pastors. Saugatuck and
Douglas mirror an assortment of ethnic, religious, and
even architectural interests—and tell how they engaged
in community and even national events. These developments
seem slow when compared to the Dutch settlers
to the north who arrived as entire congregations already
organized. For 30 years there were not enough people of
any denomination to found a church, although itinerant
preachers often held services in the school house or private
homes. Nevertheless, it was not until 1860 that the
Congregationalists in Saugatuck organized, hired a pastor,
and built a church

“How many students in the local school system?”; As of the official student
count day in the fall of 2010,
the Saugatuck Public School
system had 842 students, 440
in the Saugatuck Middle/Senior
High School, grades six
through twelve, on Elizabeth
Street in Saugatuck and 402 in Douglas Elementary
School, kindergarten through fifth grade, on Randolph
Street in Douglas. Saugatuck is part of the Ottawa
County Intermediate School
District which has a schoolsof-
choice program, so 251 of
that total were out of district
students who elected to attend
Saugatuck schools.

How do small town citizens get things done?; About 1971 citizens interested in parks found out
that the highway department had a leftover 27-acre
piece of riverfront. They met and asked the township
board to set up a township park commission.
The board acquiesced on the condition that seven
members of the group agree to accept appointment
to the first park commission. The newly-minted
body applied for a grant to cover the design of
River Bluff Park, and got a one-year millage on the
ballot to cover the matching funds. They also built
two other small parks and used federal revenue
sharing funds to hire a caretaker and a recreation
director.
Saugatuck Township Park Commissioner was the
first political office held by Patty Birkholz, of Saugatuck
Township, who, later served in the state legislature
for the maximum time allowable and, as a
state senator she was the first woman elected president
pro-tem of the Michigan Senate.

Entry/Object ID

2022.09.16

Context

The exhibits main panels covered the founding of the villages, working at a sawmill, leisure activities, chain ferry and bridge transportation, the post office and home mail delivery, Dr. Walker and the Community Hospital, school consolidation and education, the Labor Day Bridge Walk. The side panels covered what do the names of Saugatuck and Douglas mean, population, industry and production, the longest-lasting businesses, restaurants and food, ice cream, the stoplight in Saugatuck, electrical service, highways, farmers and the first telephone company, major fires, the Kirby house as a hospital, churches, schools through the years and student statistics, and "how to small towns citizens get things done?"

Collection

SDHC Exhibits1830 Settlement, pioneer era1835 Logging and LumberingIndustry and manufacturing1850 Chain ferries and landings/storesTransportation: bridgesBusiness: Restaurants1899 Interurban electric train -19261909 Big Pavilion -1960Utilities and public infrastructureTransportation: highway and road infrastructure1870 Fruit growing, farming, agricultureFires and fire departmentsHospitals, medical care and doctorsChurches and religionEducation and schools

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2022.09

Acquisition Method

Found in Collection

Credit Line

This content was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel it should not be available to the public, please contact the SDHC Archvies at [email protected].

Dimensions

Dimension Description

digital asset

Location

Box

119 D CDs SDHC Book/Exhibit production 1

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Butler, William Gay 1799-1857Colling, Russell L.132 Mason/'Round the Corner Ice Cream Shoppe/Model Laundry/Metzger BuildingOld Chain Ferry Scows c1836-1947Bridge, Blue Star Highway 1936Bridge, Swing and Causeway 1902/Drawbridge 1870 or 1868Interurban Railroad 1899-1927Big Pavilion 1909-1960Martin, Elizabeth "Betty" (Stillson) 1911-1994Bryan, Lena L. (Robinson) 1910-1983Bekken, Gerald 1924-2021Post Office, current Douglas USPSPost Office, Saugatuck USPSTri-County/Western Allegan County/Ganges Telephone CompanyKirby House/Community Hospital before 1960Walker, Robert J.1869-1944River Bluff ParkBirkholz, Patty (Knoll) 1944-2018Douglas Elementary School 1957-Saugatuck Middle & High School 1950-presentSaugatuck Public School 1897-1950

Create Date

01/29/2022

Update Date

08/22/2025