NEWS from SAUGATUCK/DOUGLAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Kit Lane
(269) 857-2781
kitlane@wmol.com

JULY 15 "TUESDAYS 'TIL NOON" LECTURE
REVEALS HISTORY OF LOCAL ROADWAYS
 

SAUGATUCK, JULY 3, 2008 -- "Tuesdays 'til Noon", a weekly series of one-hour lectures at the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society Museum, will present local historian/author Kit Lane talking about "The Roads To Saugatuck" on Tuesday, July 15, at 11 a.m.

Lane begins with a focus on one of the artworks featured in this year's Museum exhibit "13 Moments In Time", a George V. Brown painting of the Blue Star Motel, one of the earliest motels in our area. It was built in 1938 to serve travelers on U. S. 31, the "superhighway" of its time skirting the eastern edge of Saugatuck, which was later renamed the Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Visualizing with earlier maps, she then retraces the various routes travelers followed to reach Saugatuck from its founding in 1830 up to the opening of our current Interstate Highway access in 1973. "To appreciate the evolution of roads that brought people to this area," she explains, "it's important to mentally erase several spans that today would seem impossible to live without. Then we realize how much more convoluted and difficult it was to come to places like this before our modern highways were created."

"Initially, U. S. 31 passed through the centers of both Saugatuck and Douglas," she adds, "but when that was rerouted to pass around both towns, many were sure we we'd be doomed to obscurity. In hindsight, that probably served us well in helping to preserve the quiet village character that so many cherish now."

The Tuesdays 'til Noon talks are held in the south gallery of the Museum, with audience capacity limited to 50 guests so early arrival is recommended. The program ends promptly at noon when the Museum opens for the day.

Founded in 1992, the Saugatuck-Douglas Museum occupies the historic Saugatuck Pump House at 735 Park Street, along the west shore of the Kalamazoo River at Mt. Baldhead Park, a short walk north from the Saugatuck Chain Ferry landing. Parking and admission are free, donations welcomed. Tel: (269) 857-7900.

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