Goshorn Lake and Floating Bridge

Location: Lake Township, Between 64th and 65th Streets

There were five Goshorn brothers from Pennsylvania who arrived in the early 1850s on the shores of what was soon known as Goshorn Lake. The oddly shaped lake, is nestled in the dunes just north of Saugatuck and is well known for its deep center section and steeply dropping off bottom. One step off the beach will put a small child over their head along some of its shoreline, in two broad steps an adult will encounter the need to swim. The lake, with its soft dune shorelines, lies directly across the shortest route from Saugatuck to Holland, so in 1867 money was raised by taxes in both Laketown and Saugatuck Townships to built a floating bridge across the west arm of the water. By 1890 the logs that formed the causeway were so waterlogged that a passing wagon sank up to the axles, with the water nearly touching the bellies of the horses. The tattered bridge remained a fishing venue until 1915 when most of the structure was removed.