16. Beaches
The first Saugatuck beach opened in the late 1890s, south of the river’s mouth where the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area is today. A beach house called Bird’s Bath House was built there in 1897. It sold refreshments, rented woolen swimwear, and initially had 12 dressing rooms, later expanding to 70. Boat taxis ferried bathers from the downtown Saugatuck to the beach.
After the construction of the new the 1906 harbor channel, a second popular swimming spot, the cove, fringed the turning basin at the east end of the channel walls. This spot was preferred when Lake Michigan was too rough for boat taxi traffic. Swimmers could paddle in the protected cove or climb the dunes to reach the Lake Michigan beach.
Oval Beach opened in 1936 after the construction of Perryman Street, sometimes referred to as Oval Beach Road. For the first time, bathers could drive to the beach and park on a large, oval-shaped parking lot.
The Douglas Beach was established in about 1900, initially with a beach house that had 19 changing rooms, a snack bar and steep stairs down to the water.