USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 5
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WONDERFUL COUNTRY OF LAKES
The average number of lakes in each township of Oakland county is eighteen, though Troy, Royal Oak, Southfield, Farmington and Lyon are very deficient in comparison with other sections of the county. The largest of the lakes and the most generously supplied of the townships lie west and southwest of Pontiac. Orion, toward the northeast, is also
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
the center of one of the most important development of resorts and homes in the county, as it is the nucleus of some of its most charming lakes, the largest of which is the body of water which gives the place its name. In the Pontiac group are Cass, Orchard, Elizabeth, Sylvan, and Pine. Walled lake to the southwest, lying in both Commerce and Novi townships, is also one of the larger bodies, all of which are over three hundred and fifty acres in extent. The largest is Cass, covering about twelve hundred acres, or nearly two square miles. It was named after Governor Cass, and lies mostly in West Bloomfield township, with two of its arms extending into Waterford. Its extreme length from south- west to northeast is about two and three quarter miles and its extreme breadth, not measuring its arm, is a trifle over a mile.
Altogether the lakes of Oakland county cover twenty thousand square acres, and the comparative importance of the townships from the stand- point of natural reservoirs is told in the following figures: West Bloom- field has a lake surface of 4,000 square acres; Waterford, of 2,600; Orion, 1,700; Commerce, 1,700; White Lake, 1,300; Highland, 1,200; Bloomfield, 1,200; Addison, 1,000; Holly, 900; Rose, 900; Independence, 800; Brandon, 600; Springfield, 600; Novi, 650; Oxford, 500; Groveland, 250; Oakland, 250; Milford, 160; Lyon, 160; Avon, 30.
CASS AND ORCHARD
Continuing the description of the individual lakes: After Cass comes Orchard lake, in size; perhaps exceeding it in beauty and general interest. It is certainly one of the finest sheets of water in southern Michigan, is circular in form, lies wholly in West Bloomfield township, and, includ- ing the islands encompassed by its water, covers about eight hundred and fifty acres. Orchard lake derives its name from the beautiful island of some thirty acres embraced by it, which the Indians called "Me-nah-sa- gor-ning," or the "place of the orchard." When the United States sur- veyors and the earliest of the permanent settlers came to this locality, they found quite a number of apple trees still in bearing, supposed to have been planted by French settlers, or at least to have been grown from seeds obtained of them at Detroit. Apple island, as it is now called, is almost in the geographical center of the lake. Northwest of it is the smaller Cedar island.
Both Cass and Orchard lakes are now surrounded by summer cot- tages and homes, pleasant walks and drives meandering around their shores. One of the most artistically and thoroughly improved of the beautiful shorelands of Cass lake is known as Keego Harbor, while a popular feature counted among the attractions of Orchard lake is the Polish Seminary, founded upon the old-time Orchard Lake Military Academy. The entire chain of little sparkling lakes from Pontiac, south- west to Cass and Orchard-Crystal, Sylvan, Lord and Pine-presents a succession of cottages, boat landings and summer devices, as well as a display of comfortable, if modest, homes for residents who are justly in love with the sunny and gentle picturesqueness of the country.
The majority of the lakes are drained by Clinton river, although quite a large number in the western and southwestern parts of the county are
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
bound together by the Huron, while some in the northwestern portions find an outlet through the Shiawassee river and thence into Saginaw bay. A few lakes in Bloomfield and West Bloomfield townships are also drained through the Rouge river.
Most of the lakes in Oakland county have picturesque, irregular shores, with gravelly beaches, and in the early days were almost wholly encompassed by forests of the American larch, or tamarack. Although these have necessarily been thinned out by both the farmer and the home seeker, they remain in the condensed form of hardy and shady groves and some of the smaller islands are still quite thickly clad in pine and cedar.
REMARKABLE NATURAL PHENOMENON
A somewhat curious natural phenomenon is noticed in several of the Oakland county lakes, particularly in Cass and Walled Lake, the latter lying mostly in Novi township, southwest of West Bloomfield. Refer- ence is made to the action of the ice which seems to expand from the center and force the sand, gravel and trees back toward the precipitous banks a few rods from the water. By this action immense piles of these materials are forced for some distance from the margin, where they are left high and dry after the ice has disappeared in the spring. Walled lake is a beautiful body of clear water covering about one square mile, and this action has gone on in that locality so long that in places along its shores a regular wall appears to have been erected by the hand of man. At Walled lake, also, the deposition of bowlders is of quite remark- able extent and compactness.
Some years ago, David Ward, who had a farm on the shores of Cass lake, and other competent investigators, carefully looked into this matter. The consensus of opinion was this: During the most intense of the freez- ing weather the ice sometimes accumulates on the surface of the water to the thickness of two feet or more. This, under atmospheric changes, expands from the center toward the margin of the lake with a force, in the case of Walled lake, to move bowlders several tons in weight. Along the southeast shore of Cass lake this action is distinctly marked, a per- manent embankment having been formed parallel with the water. Along the eastern shore of Orchard lake there is a broad ridge of lake sand, un- doubtedly formed by the same action, and in places overgrown by scatter- ing forest trees.
A very careful examination of the phenomenon at Walled lake seems to substantiate the following propositions: During the geological Drift period a large deposit of bowlders accumulated along the western margin of the lake, and extended a long distance into the water, and on this was formed the sand bar which extends into the lake for some sixty or eighty rods. Near the center of the wall-like ridge the ground is some ten feet above the surface of the lake, and here the ridge is wanting; but trend- ing north and south from this high land the slope is gentle until the ridge lies but a few feet above the surface. The soil of this vicinity is filled with bowlders of various sizes, some being perhaps from one to three tons in weight. The expansive action of the heavy ice has operated to simply crowd the surface bowlders together; the movement operates
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
precisely like the pushing of sand or gravel before a scraper or board, driven sidewise against it-it piles up and forms a ridge. The bowlders are driven together in this way by an action continued for centuries per- haps, and the result is the curious wall, about which so much has been written and conjectured. Anyone who has even a superficial knowledge of geology will understand when it is stated that it is a glacial moraine on a small scale.
Sylvan lake, already briefly mentioned, was formerly called Timber lake, and along its shores are some of the most popular resorts for Pon- tiac people in the county.
THE LAKE ORION REGION
Outside of the chains stretching for miles to the west of that city none has a wider popularity as a rendezvous for those who enjoy good boat-
AT LAKE ORION
ing, fishing and general out-door pleasures than Lake Orion. Detroit and Flint, as well as Pontiac and neighboring towns in the northeastern part of the county, send thither their contributions of resorters. Bellevue, sometimes caller Assembly island, is nearly in the center of the lake, and forms a beautiful spot for summer homes, with which its shores are lined. As the region around and in Lake Orion was one of the first to be de- veloped, a somewhat detailed history of the improvements in that vicinity is allowable.
As soon as the Detroit & Bay City Railroad, which runs along its shore, was completed, the region, with Lake Orion as its center, became frequented by pleasure parties from Detroit and other cities. About that time E. R. Emmons improved a natural park on the north shore of the
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
lake, which was used largely for picnic purposes. In 1874 he placed a small steamer, the "Little Dick," on the lake, and excursions were run to this park and many other islands of the lake. The same year a party of speculators purchased one of the finest of these islands and formed them- selves into what is known as the Orion Park Association. A bridge con- necting the island with the mainland, a large reception hall with an observ- atory, a wharf and boathouse for "Little Dick," and other improvements and attractions were inaugurated and completed, which gave the Lake Orion region quite a wide reputation among the really popular summer resorts of southern Michigan. In 1899 the Lake Orion Assembly Resort was organized, which practically purchased all the lake front. The com- pany erected fine buildings, hotels and boathouses, and for ten years operated a Chautauqua on quite an extensive scale. In 1910 the Lake Orion Summer Homes Company succeeded by purchase to the assets of the Assembly Resort. Twenty-one islands controlled by the manage- ment of the resort give ample assurance of seclusion and privacy to those who wish to go into retreat in vacation days, rather than mingle with the crowds of enthusiastic pleasure seekers, and cottages are for hire on all these little beauty spots for those who are not attracted by hotel life. Many of the homes are owned by regular summer visitors, and the Lake Orion Summer Homes Company has done much for the upbuilding of the place through its plan of building homes to suit the owner. Lake Orion offers many natural advantages which alone would make it a most pleasant summering spot, and the extensive improvements wrought by the company which controls the amusement project have well com- pleted what nature had so fairly begun.
Northeast of the Lake Orion region in Addison township is also Lakeville lake, with Leonard as the nearest village in this developing section of summer resorts. Deer lake in Independence township and almost in Clarkson village has lately sprung into considerable notice, while Mace Day lake and Windiate park, in Waterford township, have been for years the resting places of numerous resorters.
SUMMER RESORT FEATURES
Most of the beautiful lakes of Oakland county are readily accessible by means of either the Detroit United Electric Railway or the Grand Trunk lines. The country roads are, as a rule, well built and kept in good repair, and, in all seasonable weather, automobilists are much in evidence. The season of the summer resorters in Oakland county com- mences early and lasts well into October, which makes both summer homes and hotels profitable. This fact ensures reasonable rents and steady income. While there are no mammoth hotels, such as are found at short-season resorts, there is an abundance of fair-sized hostelries and comfortable boarding houses.
Reference has been made to Oakland county as a favorite of the auto- mobilist, on account of its good roads. He himself should be given full credit for bringing about this improvement over the old order. And he has been given his due, as witness the following from a metropolitan sheet : "The advent of the automobile has tended greatly to spread the
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
knowledge of Oakland county lakes. Before the automobile came into general use few people were able to get about the country to see what it contained. With the automobile, came the tendency toward good roads. Although at the present time many roads of the county are still in bad shape, they are all being gradually improved and a number are in excel- lent condition. In time there will be perfect automobile roads around the larger lakes of the country and between Detroit and Pontiac, which will undoubtedly mean that Oakland's lakes will be even more popular than they are at present."
TRANSPORTATION FACILTIES
As stated, the transportation facilities of the county are, on the whole, excellent, and how they have been gradually provided is well told in a booklet issued, more than ten years ago, by Joseph E. Sawyer, who is one of the foremost citizens, as he has been for years past, in the special development of Oakland county property which is being traced in this chapter : "The importance of good roads and other facilities for trans- porting to market the products of the soil was early appreciated by the settlers of Oakland county, and Clinton river was improved and rendered navigable from Mount Clemens to Rochester by the Clinton River Nav- igation Company, organized in 1827. This company carried on business several years, but was unable to compete with the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad Company chartered in 1834. This railroad was first built from Detroit to Royal Oak and operated by horsepower. It was continued to Birmingham in 1839 and steam power introduced, which was a notable event in the history of the state. The road was extended to Pontiac in 1843.
"Other and better roads succeeded these primitive affairs, so that up to the time when the electric roads appeared Oakland county considered herself very well supplied. In the last few years, however, her advant- ages in this respect have been very much increased. The first electric road in the county was the Pontiac & Sylvan Lake, which ran its cars about Pontiac and as far out as Sylvan lake. This was soon followed by the Detroit & Pontiac, named from its terminals and affording twenty- minute service between them. In addition to this, the Detroit & North- western has for some time been running cars out Grand River avenue to Sand Hill * and will soon be extended to Pontiac by way of Farmington, and Orchard Lake. The Detroit, Rochester, Romeo & Lake Orion has been completed to Rochester, and right-of-way has been obtained for three more-the Pontiac & Flint, the Pontiac & Orion, and the Pontiac & Mil- ford. It is probable that not only these but others will in a short time extend through the entire county, connecting its towns and rich farming districts with the markets at Detroit and other cities.
"But it will not be the farmers alone who will be benefited by the improved facilities for transportation. Many busy city people will have reason to be thankful for the ease with which they may reach the lakes and the delightful scenery of the famous country.
"The Indians were always admirers of the beautiful in nature, and
* It should be remembered that this was written in 1899. The prophecies herein made have been more than verified.
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the lake district of Oakland was their favorite resort. The great chief, Pontiac, honored it by choosing it as the place of his lodge and retired hither after his repulse at the siege of Detroit. The prosperous city which bears his name, numerous thriving villages and cultivated farms now occupy the hunting ground of the Indian, but art has not entirely usurped the bower of nature."
AS A FARMING AND LIVE STOCK REGION
Thirty years ago Oakland county was, in many respects, the leading agricultural and horticultural section of interior Michigan. That this statement is not made at haphazard is evident from the following extracts taken from an authoritative history of Oakland county : "Oakland county stands deservedly high in its agricultural productions, though its apparent standing as compared with other counties in the state is largely owing to its greater area, it being the largest in the lower peninsula with the ex- ception of Sanilac, which is comparatively a new county with a much larger proportion of waste land. In the production of wheat for 1873 it ranked third, Calhoun and Washtenaw exceeding it. In the raising of Indian corn it stood sixth, the counties exceeding it being Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee and Washtenaw. In all other grains it ranked first, and in the production of potatoes it also stood at the head. In the number of tons of hay cut it ranked third, Jackson and Lenawee only exceeding it. In wool it was second to Washtenaw; in cheese and butter second to Lenawee, and in pork ninth on the list."
In the acreage of orchards Oakland county was second, with twelve thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two acres, in 1873, Berrien having fourteen thousand. It led in the production of apples-five hundred and seventeen thousand, six hundred and forty-two bushels for the year ; also in cherries, eight thousand, four hundred and fifteen bushels; and was second only to Wayne county in melons and garden vegetables, its yearly record being fifty-five thousand, two hundred and three bushels. The total value of all its fruits and garden vegetables, $184,884, made it fifth in the state, in this regard, being exceeded by Berrien, Hillsdale, Lenawee, and Wayne.
As to live stock at this time, Oakland county stood first in the number of horses produced and second in milch cows and sheep.
FEATURES OF THE TRANSPORTATION
It requires no very astute business man to understand what this de- velopment of farm and even waste lands into sites for summer resorts and homes has meant for the material advancement of the Oakland county property owner. It has brought hundreds of thousands of dol- lars into the county, advanced numerous small farmers into prosperous land owners, furnished employment to an army of artisans, made of the entire country a region of beauty thickly studded with homesteads, and assured the stranger who comes to invest in new enterprises that he and his family shall be surrounded by the fresh influences of nature as well as modern comforts and advantages. The means for much of this splen-
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did development has come from the outside; wherein has arisen the danger that the home people may eventually lose much of the real and ultimate advantage of the transformation.
This thought is brought out in the following from the Pontiac Press- Gazette: "There was a time when the advantages of Oakland county lakes were not appreciated and people did not enjoy what nature had offered, but in recent years they have awakened to the possibilities and each year sees more cottages and more people spending the summer months on the shore of some lake. The lakes are so near Detroit, and the metropolis of Michigan is so conveniently connected with the larger lakes by electric lines that Detroit people have not been slow to see the advantages, and many Detroiters now own homes at the lakes and spend their summers there.
"Frequently the thought has come to Pontiac people that this city is making a mistake in not reserving a substantial piece of ground at one of the near-by lakes where a natural park and playground might be located. Scarcely realizing that an opportunity is slipping away, the city is watching private parties step in and buy all the available lake shore, and in time the public may be entirely excluded and will be deprived of the enjoyment the lakes afford. Not a few of the smaller lakes of the county are owned by private individuals who keep them stocked with fish and allow no one to fish therein without permission. A few wealthy men have purchased enough land around some of the lakes to form fine estates and have built beautiful homes to grace the shores."
CHAPTER II GENERAL PHYSICAL FEATURES
SURFACE AND ELEVATIONS-IMMENSE DRIFT AND FORMATIONS BENEATH -SOIL AND CLIMATE-THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF OAKLAND COUNTY.
Oakland is one of the extreme southeastern counties of southern Michigan, in the third tier of counties from the Ohio boundary, and lies northwest of Wayne county and Detroit. As it is nine hundred square miles in area, it is among the largest of the counties in this section of the state. Physically, it forms the water-shed between the headwaters of the Clinton, Huron, Rouge and Shiawassee rivers, which drain into Lake St. Clair, Detroit river, Lake Erie and Saginaw bay.
SURFACE AND ELEVATIONS
The surface of Oakland county is comparatively level, although the land lies far enough above the numerous lakes to make the country re- markably healthful. In various sections the surface is broken by great deposits of sand, gravel and bowlders, especially near these bodies of water, but the highest hills and ridges are found, as a rule, in the town- ships which least abound in lakes. The most considerable of these eleva- tions are located along the northeastern border of Pontiac township, in the southwestern corner of Independence near Waterford, in the western portions of Waterford township and in Highland township.
Bald mountain, lying partly in the northeastern portion of Pontiac and the southeastern part of Orion is generally considered the highest point of land in the county-that is, five hundred and twenty-nine feet above Lake Michigan-although there is some dispute among surveyors as to whether the highest elevation may not really be a little to the north of that locality. The most pronounced ridge is, of course the water-shed of the Clinton, Huron, and Shiawassee rivers, which passes through the county diagonally, crossing the townships of Addison, Oxford, Brandon, Independence, Springfield, White Lake, Commerce, West Bloomfield, Novi and Lyon; spurs are thrown out into Pontiac, Groveland, Rose, Highland and Milford. There are also collections of considerable eleva- tions, some of them quite abrupt, in Bloomfield township.
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
IMMENSE DRIFT AND FORMATIONS BENEATH
Geologically considered, Oakland county belongs to the Drift period. Its water courses nowhere cut through the immense alluvial deposits of sand, gravel and bowlders, to the rocks beneath. No minerals are known to exist, except possibly in isolated sections mingled with the drift.
The rock formations underlying the drift all belong to the Carboni- ferous system. The coal measures are supposed to underlie a fraction of the county northwest of Holly. Below them comes the Palma sand- stone, which reaches a little further into the county ; next lower, the Car- boniferous limestone, with a still greater area; deeper still, the Michigan salt group, which is supposed to underlie about two-fifths of the county ; then the Marshall sandstone group, believed to underlie the entire county ; and lastly, the Huron group, which extends beyond Oakland county into adjoining districts.
Borings in the northwest corner of the county would penetrate all of these formations, while in the southeast corner only the Huron group will be found. The center of this geological basin would be near the line between Gratiot and Midland counties, where the dip of the underlying strata is probably the deepest; thence gradually rising toward the margin of the basin. Fossils of various forms are found in the drift of Oakland county.
The following information is condensed from the last report of the Weather Bureau for the section known officially as Eastern Lower Mich- igan, being especially applicable to Oakland county: In this section there are two high areas of land, the northern covering most of Otsego, Craw- ford and Roscommon counties. In the southern portion there is another elevated area covering much of Jackson, Washtenaw and Hillsdale counties; this elevation includes the sources of the Grand, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Raisin rivers. A part of this elevated area extends north- eastward into Oakland county and contains the headwaters of the Huron, Rouge, and Clinton rivers. A comparatively low belt of land, extend- ing from Saginaw bay to the lower valley of the Grand river, separates these elevations. The greater part of the drainage is into Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie, although a portion finds its way to Lake Michigan through the Manistee, Muskegon, and Grand rivers.
SOIL AND CLIMATE
The soil is varied in character. In the southern portion it is fertile and well adapted to growing grains, grasses and fruits. In its original state the land was covered with forests-of hard wood in the southern portion and chiefly pine in the northern.
The yearly precipitation averages between thirty and thirty-five inches, although there are limited areas where the yearly amount averages be- tween twenty-five and thirty inches. It is well distributed throughout the year, but is slightly greater during the spring and summer than dur- ing other seasons. In the northern portion the winter snowfall is heavy and the ground remains covered during most of the winter, the accumu- lated depth of snow being often from two to three feet. In the south-
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HISTORY OF .OAKLAND COUNTY
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