NEWS from SAUGATUCK/DOUGLAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Jim Schmiechen
(269) 414-9199
james.schmiechen@cmich.edu

OLD SINGAPORE HARBOR AND ITS LAND-USE CONTROVERSIES
TOPIC OF SAUGATUCK-DOUGLAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING

SAUGATUCK (MI), OCT. 1, 2007 -- An illustrated talk about old Saugatuck Harbor and how its village of Singapore became a "lost village" will be the featured presentation at the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society meeting Wednesday, October 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the Saugatuck High School (Elizabeth & Main St.). Admission is free and public attendance is welcomed.

Aided by rare old photos and century-old maps, Jim Schmiechen, Professor of History in the Center for Transnational History at Central Michigan University, will visualize early Singapore as a mill and lumber export settlement, addressing the hardships of pioneer life at the old boarding house that was home to dozens of people at different times -- from many lands and speaking many languages. Of special note is the Van Leeuwen House, which was moved from Singapore up the frozen Kalamazoo River in the winter of 1868 to its current location in Saugatuck. Period furniture from that house can be seen at Saugatuck's Historical Museum, in a special exhibition including pieces from Jane Fairbanks and Sylvia Randolph.

Schmiechen's talk will conclude with historical insights as to why Singapore ended up buried under shifting sand dunes and the role played by a controversy over public access to the piers a half-century ago when then-owner David Bennett -- a friend of U.S. President Harry Truman -- won a court settlement brought against him by the people of Saugatuck.
 

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This 1869 photo looks toward Lake Michigan at the site of the present Saugatuck Channel. Seen in the foreground is the Johnson & Stockbridge Sawmill, with schooners loading lumber for transport to Chicago.