New Channel

Location: One mile north of Old Harbor

Date: 1905-06

Hydraulic Dredge Works on New Harbor Channel

Because the Kalamazoo River did not have enough water discharge to scour a clear channel through the tremendous sandbars and dunes created by the winds and waves of Lake Michigan, the river formed curves twisting on itself to resemble an oxbow. This made river traffic difficult and at times impossible, particularly for the larger ships that were beginning to sail the Great Lakes in the later 1800s.

To solve this problem the village of Saugatuck petitioned the federal government to use the Corp of Engineers to build a new channel (1200’ x 200’ x 14’ deep) to short-cut the river upstream about one mile. The new channel allowed for larger ships to enter the Saugatuck port. The cost was $250,000. O. C. Simonds of Pier Cove and Chicago was one of the consulting engineers. The old harbor entrance was allowed to close—thereby cutting off entrance to the two fishing settlements along the old harbor and making the Saugatuck lighthouse irrelevant.