The Hill

Location: Saugatuck
Date: 1895

The Hill Area is highlighted

As industrial activity in the village of Saugatuck grew so did smoke, air and water pollution, overcrowding, danger of fire, and social problems such as drunkenness among the unskilled laborers. As a result the “respectable” class of the village, including skilled workers, wealthy merchants and industrialists, moved to the high ground east of “the Flats,” often into new modest houses of the Italianate style. The first churches of the village were located on this higher ground, as was the new school of 1866. Living “on the Hill” came to indicate a higher social status. Mr. Harry B. Moore (whose house is pictured) made a fortune in stockpiling millions of feet of timber on upriver banks, and then floating it downstream to his mill off Center Street in Douglas where it was made into barrels and shingles.