2. New Harbor

Location: One mile north of the Old Harbor or five miles north of Oval Beach.

Smoke rising from hydraulic dredges as they dig the new harbor channel, spring 1906.

Originally, the Kalamazoo River flowed into Lake Michigan at a spot closer to Oval Beach. Back then, as the river water neared the lake, it slowed, dropping silt and sand and forming lazy curves that locals called the oxbow — a reference to the double, U-shaped yokes used to harness oxen. The oxbow was a navigational hazard. Often the water was so shallow Great Lakes ships could not get past sandbars clogging the mouth of the river. Regular dredging and the construction of heavy channel walls and piers proved ineffective. Fishermen, captains of passenger ships, and the farmers who relied on ships to transport their products to urban markets cried out for help.

The solution was to dig a new channel that avoided the oxbow by cutting straight toward the lake at the river’s northern curve. In 1906, the 1,200-foot long by 200-foot wide by 14-foot deep new channel was completed at a cost of $250,000 (that’s about $9 million today).

Over time, the old river mouth and the oxbow completely silted up. The lighthouse was decommissioned. Fishtown shanties relocated to Saugatuck. Artists purchased the Riverside Hotel for a new use as an art school. The original route of the Kalamazoo River is now known as the Ox-Bow Lagoon.