mMm^^mmmmm Summertime CX-^ amid oJ2^ akes 'iir i^ummerfime amid ^'5 c-/ lakes -i# A : iHt Ai 'F ::.PtNDING Tl iE SL'f OR \r" • N IN AND AROUND Ml ri ,s M IVLRS AND WOODS BLING UNSURPAS nib: LNJOYMENT OF BATHING, HOA [ i MNG AND CAMPING IN COT lAGE OR UNDER CANVAS DETAILS OF WHICH ARE FULL^' CONTAINED HEREIN. Wn H MAPS SHOWING LA ^ i VERS AND 11 • rio'^1 LINES ^ L „ . I , CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MUSKEGON, MICH. 1^??^SI^?^'"^l-?jii:L' fiirYJitGHT lf)()S nv Mi'Skkgon Chami; r^:. ide real ; it is _ i.'ie- i«fiiiiny!} impossible luiiic true. It is the vacation place of your dreams. At Muskegon you go fishing in a street car; you live in a city and breathe country air; the wind blows, but there is no dust; the sun is always shining, lout it is never hot. Muskegon is a busy, prosperous city of 25,000 people. It stretches for six miles along the shores of Muskegon Lake and IS only four miles from the beach of Lake Michigan. The west and southwest winds, the prevailing hot winds of summer-time .elsewhere, are cooled by their seventy-five mile passage over Lake Michigan and bring to Muskegon fresh, cool breezes every day. The street car system extends from Lake Michigan through the city, and for six miles beyond, to the shores of MONA LAKE, THE BEAUTIFUL. Within a radius of a dozen miles, and all accessible by smooth, good roads, are over twenty smaller lakes, a dozen trout streams, and Muskegon River, the largest and most picturesque river in Michigan. In Muskegon City there are a half dozen hotels, and a large !.^ number of private houses where summer guests are entertained. The accommodations are suited to any purse. There is no place in all Muskegon that the cool breezes do not reach, and shade trees line every street. In the heart of Muskegon is beautiful Hackley Park with its flowers and ornamental shrubs, its statues, monuments, shaded walks and velvet grass. Everywhere through- out the city are asphalt and brick paved streets, bordered by beautiful houses with well-kept lawns; and everyw^here is the tree shade, and always the cool breeze. ! tir- ( haiirirl f iiiiancr In iu.kegon i lai okc Jiiich.gan ^'crk. J^i:.i,:gc-.. j.Uk Muskegon business streets are lined willi modern stores and office blocks. Its groceries and markets are as well stocked as those in any city. Four banks have on deposit over three and a half million dollars. Every street is electric lighted. Telephone w ires reach almost every home. Pure w^ater from Lake Michigan, SIX miles away, is piped to every house. The city street cars run every ten minutes to Lake Michigan Park, fare 5 cents. On the way they pass along the edge of the bluff that overlooks Muskegon Lake, running for a distance of four miles in constant view of the water. Near the end of the journey the car leaves Muskegon Lake and plunges into the deep shade of the primeval woods, breaking cover again as the sparkling blue waters of Lake Michigan flash into view. Lake Michigan Park is a natural forest skirting a broad, sandy beach. The majesty of the grand old oaks, murmuring together in the breeze, overshadows the dancing waves laughing in the sunlight and singing as they break upon the sand. As far as the eye can reach, the billows are rolling in and breaking in long lines of foam upon the beach. Out on the blue, the sails of ships and the smoke of steamers mark the path of com- merce on Lake Michigan. Lining the beach, and connected by th*" board walk, are a roller coaster, restaurants, dancing hall, ice cream parlors, candy and fruit stores, oriental bazarr, band stand, theatre, bath pavilion, bowling alleys, curio stores, and other amusement features. At night time, thousands of electric "^ ^ ;,, i^g lights transform the Park into a Beach fairyland. '^W- /l ,f. In the surl arr a hundrcc] halhers, many of ihem children, for the slope of the beach is so gradual that there is no danger of getting into water dangerously deep. Diving floats and platfornrjs are seen farther out. Along the board walk, and on the whiu , clean sand are other hundreds of people who enjoy the coo! brei-v^ ^xN'rppintr in as they watch the bathers. FI^HJN(J A quarter of a mile up the beach are the long piers of "1 he C hannel," the entrance to Muskegon Harbor, where are located the light-house and life-saving station. Along the piers is a summer colony of resorters, fishing for perch. .The" fish bite as fast ,is \\\o hook can be baited and make delicious eating. As the channel broadens into Muskegon Lake, five miles long and three miles wide, a dozen boats are seen bobbing in llic water,, filled with fishermen catching white bass on the bar. Mus- kegon I_,ake is and always will be, the greatest natural fishing ground in Michiv in I in Muskegon River which empties into Muskegon Lake live miles above the channel to Lake Michigan, is the spawning place lor millions ol h.tss and pickerel every yeai Great schools of these game lish come through the channel and go up the liver each season. After spawning, they come down into Muskegon Lake, and all summer long, fishermen bring in great strings of large and small-mouth bass, pickerel and pike. Muskegon Lake, too, boasts the famous muscallonge, and every season large numbers of these mighty fish are brought to gafl. Last season's largest "Muskie" weighed forty-eight pounds. Up Muskegon River, reached by launch, are some of the finest trout streams in Michigan. Muskegon River, too, is famou; for its bass and pickerel. The state fish commission liberally stocks Muskegon's lakes and river and her trout streams ever\ year with "fry," and owing to rigid enforcement of the law in the closed season, the fishing grows better every year. For the ladies and children who like to fish, Muskegon Lake is a paradise. Blue gills and perch may be caught anywhere along the shore, or in any part of the lake. There are literally millions of these prolific fish, weighing from a few ounces up to two pounds or more. After fishing in Muskegon Lake and River and the trout streams, there yet remains for the angler another lake, joincil to Muskegon Lake by Bear Creek, a wide, deep stream les: than a quarter of a mile long and navigable to either launch or row-boat. This lake is Bear. The stranger on Muskegon Lake might pass its entrance a hundred times without suspecting thai less than a quarter of a mile away, beyond the trees, there was a lake over a mile long and half a mile wide. The banks ol Bear Lake are high and densely wooded and the bottom is deep and clean and sandy. The water is clear as crystal, and in its depths are the muscallonge, bass, pickerel and pike that have made Bear Lake this synonym for "big fish that didn't get away." PICNIC QROUNDS Returning to Muskegon Lake from Bear, to the left of Bear Creek channel, rises a bluff covered with trees. This is the famous Interlake Park, lying a little over a mile from the shore of Lake Michigan and between Bear Lake and Muskegon Lake. It is a strip of high, wooded, level ground lacing a lake on either side and swept by the breezes from Lake Michigan on the west. Interlake Park has been for ye^rs a favorite picnic ground. Its trees rise above a carpet of soft grass without underbrush or weeds. From the edge of the bluff on one side can be seen all of Bear Lake, and beyond it the blue expanse of grand Lake Michigan. On the other side is Muskegon Lake, and from the light house at the channel, all along the shore and as far as the mouth of Muskegon River, is spread the panorama of Muskegon City with her six miles of water front. Interlake Park has recently been platted into lots, and now without disturbing its natural beauty, it is to be the site of a great summer colony. It is reached either by a well-kept road around Muskegon Lake, a beautiful ride among the trees, or by steamers or launches that run across Muskegon Lake. Interlake is within fifteen minutes' boat ride of all Muskegon's stores, markets and pleasures, and yet is as secluded from the world as if it were ten miles away in the woods. BOATING Muskegon and Bear Lakes afford not only excellent fishing, but other water sports as well. A launch can run for fifteen miles up Muskegon River, every turn of the screw disclosing some new beauty on the river's banks. The shores of Bear and Mus- kegon Lakes may be explored in search of the wild fruits and flowers that grow there in profusion, and on a calm day the launch may be taken through the channel and run south along the shore of Lake Michigan, past Lake Michigan Park and four miles beyond to the channel that leads into VUi. . ^ Lake. Yachting, too, is a favorite sport and is made safe by the-_,; ^- land-locked harbors oi "" ' Muskegon and Mona '^- Lakes. «- Iiabitanli Muskegon akcs lliOLLEY RIDLS Taking a street Ciir Irom any part ol liu- city, and paying a fare of only 5 cents, one is carried through the beautiful residence section of Muskegon out into the woods, through Muskegon Heights and then into the woods again. Curving and twisting over the hills, the track runs along, until suddenly to the right, water glistens between the trees. In five minutes more the passen- ger is landed at Mona Lake Park. ^ JIMUSEMENTS At Mona Lake is a pavilion, restaurant, children's pla\ ground, bathing beach, and base-ball park. The street car line passes them all. Without transfer or change of cars and all for 1 ! • rent fare, one can ride from Lake Michigan Park to Mona Lake, a distance of twelve miles, through beautiful natural scenery lor three-fourths of the way. On a summer evening the open cars are filled with people who spend two hours making the round trip merely for the pleasure of the ride in the fresh, clean air, or who stop off at either terminal to enjoy the Park. '"•'^ ■til ■i STEAMBOATINQ At Mona Lake Park is the landing for all Mona Lake steamers which ply from point to point around the lake. These steamers make regular and frequent trips from Mona Lake Landing to Bear Lake Channel Views Lakr Harbor Hotel on Lake Michit^dii, liiuc [mlfs awciy- 1 Hey stop on the way at a half-dozen resorts and summer cottage colonies. COTTAGES ANT) HOTELS Mona Lake is a summer resort of the best class. Along its edge are a hundred cottages and hotels. Its shores are beautifully wooded and high, free both from mosquitoes and malarial dangers. Various parts of the lake are reached by beautiful drives. Mona Lake is an excellent fishing ground for bass and is especially adapted for casting. Its irregular shore with the wide reaches of cool water, lily pads and rushes, make a natural haunt for the hungry game fish. On Mona Lake, too, are launches and sail- boats as well as the large number of row-boats belonging to the cottages and hotels. Mona Lake, like Muskegon and Bear Lakes, is stocked annually by the state fish commission with bass and pickerel, and like its sister lakes, the fishing grows better each succeeding year. At Lake Harbor, where Mona Lake narrows to a winding chan- nel fifty feet wide that empties into Lake Michigan a half mile away, is a great sum- mer hotel. Its verandas overlook a wide sweep of sloping lawn running to the t h e water's edge. A shaded walk leads for a half mile along the winding chan nel down to "The Beach where old Lake Michigan rolls in her waves. Here are bathing pools for the children, a pavilion and covered rest seats. I he great woods of "Hackley Park" stretch away to the southward and the bluffs rise fifty feet above the water and shut out the noisy, busy world. irst Attempt Trolling for Pickerel Boat Livery Lake Mona Cruising mmmmfitM I All along the channel walk, and failher down ihe beach, are cottages and other hotels filled in summer time with resorters. Back of the Lake Harbor Hotel is an eighteen-hole golf course, one of the best in Michigan, tennis courts, dancing hall, children's playgrounds, orchards and gardens; and still farther on is Forest Park, a natural wooded fastness where many happy people have their summer homes. If you want society, you can have it at the summer hotels. If you wish cottage privacy, you can buy, build or rent a cottage that will fulfill the most exacting demands. THRIVES From Lake Harbor and from all parts of Mona Lake are beautiful drives to Muskegon and to surrounding resorts. The country is devoted largely to fruit growing and the well-kept gardens and fields are a constant source of delight. Near Muskegon, as the maps in this book will show, are about twenty lakes, all reached by good roads, and all abounding in fish. In the immediate vicinity, too, forming the setting of which Muskegon is the central jewel, are a number of other resorts accessible by road, train and trolley car, so that the summer visitor in search of variety need spend no two days alike. Did you ever stop to think what it would mean to take with you on your vacation all of the conveniences of home? How often have you returned from your summer outing and said: "I'm glad to be back in civilization again!" The call of the country, that draws men and women from the city's conveniences to the dis- comforts and monotony of the ordinary summer resort, is hard to understand. CJMPING But in Muskegon you may take your choice. If you want cool breezes and clean air only, you need not leave Muskegon City. If you want to camp out or rough it, you can be as civilized or live as roughly as you choose. But city comforts and 1 ■mnifess.si.jt'.ssi.in-CBii^ tonveiiiences are never more ihan a half hours ndc away, by boal or car. If you are a Irsherman, at Muskegon you may catch trout, bass, pickerel, pike, perch, white bass, blue gills and mus- callonge, and need not hsh two days in the same lake or stream during a solid month of sport. Another important thing is that bait is never lacking, Where you rent your boat, thousands of minnows are kept swimming in the tanks. If you want to spend the summer on a farm, choose a farm near Muskegon, where if you grow tired of resting, there is some- where to go and something to do. Pitch your tent in Muskegon's woods along Muskegon's lakes, and camp out; but remember, you can get provision- "r.\n, town" and can have the he'^i lli;il the market affords. There are no mosquitoes in Muskegon, because there is no marshy land, and because the west winds blow them away. There is almost every ^1'^ "i ;i!Minrl;.iu c of sunshine that is hdI hnl at any time. Come to Muskegon this summer and enjoy a true vacation for the first time in your life, "with all the comforts of home." ACCESSIBILITY You can take a Goodrich steamer from Chicago, or a Crosby steamer from Milwaukee, every night in summer, and go direct to Muskegon without change, arriving at seven o'clock next morn- ing. No more delightful trip can be imagined. Or you can reach Muskegon by the Pere Marquette, Grand Rapids & Indiana, or Grand Trunk Railroads. From Grand Rapids, which is only 33 miles away, you can take an Interurban car that will land you in the heart of Muskegon in an hour and a half, passing Spring and Mona Lakes on the way. Muskegon offers you her choice of summer outings. It is easily accessible both by train and boat, and is not a jumping-off place in the wilderness. Come this summer. Bring your fishing tackle along. Muskegon will furnish the bait and the fish. Bring I I /\ V rv 1 . ( . 1 t-.'tesft your family, Muskegon will take care of them, and if they fall sick or meet with accidents. Muskegon's forty doctors and two hospitals are at your command; one of them costing $250,000.00, being the best equipped hospital west of New York City. If you get a toothache, there are a dozen dentists in Muskegon who will relieve your pain. If you want plain living and quiet, you cin have that. If you want to spend a fashionable summer, you can do that, too. If you want to rest, you can be shut off from a world that you can yet see. If you want amusement, you can go to three theatres, a dozen vaud'ettes, two beaches, over twenty lakes, take street car rides, motor over perfect roads, fish, play golf, swim, row, sail, listen to the bands, or do anything under the sun that suits your whim and fancy. You will not be fed on canned goods, condensed milk, dried beef and prunes. You will not suffer the dreary monotony of unending sameness. Hackley Public School I Come to Muskegon, spend as much or as little as you like. You will get your money's worth for every dollar. Muskegon is the ideal summer home or vacation place for men, women and children. No member of the family need sacrifice his individual taste to suit the rest. There is something for everyone to enjoy. The west wind is whispering to-day to the trees along Lake Michigan. The m.erry waves are chasing each other on the sandy beach. The sun is shining brightly overhead, but it is cool. Out in the lake a bass is hungry for your bait; a speckled trout awaits your coming in a dark pool on Cedar Creek. I he golf links have been rolled and the greens are smoothly cut for you. The first tee invites you. The children are wishing for Muskegon; they have heard of the broad, white sands, the parks and playgrounds. Bring your books and read them under the trees. You will never knov/ what "Vacation" means until you have spent "SUMMER TIME AMID MUSKEGON'S LAKES." A Wooded Scene in Hackley Park Bud's-cye lew of Lake arbor, with Hotel and Cottages III ForegrouMil First Glimpse o Lake Harbor Boat House and Collages Club House and Firsl Tee of Lake Harbor Golf Grounds Scene on Ruddiman Cre, McGraft Pni WouJIand Drives Float-Bridge "*"" Muskego Century Club . . and Sailors' Monument iOi r ■^^ iSailii; "fT^r THE FOLLOWING MAPS SHOW THE NUMEROUS LAKES AND WATER- WAYS SURROUNDING MUSKEGON AND HOW TO GET THERE More ut-iautru itiiotmauon legaruing iviuskegon Summer Resorts may be had by addressing PRESIDENT, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MUSKEGON. MICHIGAN " Si i V Of ^ o in z o u If) z -■■MHiaHiBgiaaH LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 016 090 813 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I ill! I ml 016 090 813