You may notice fresh history around town amid the fall leaves and fresh snow.
Last week, the Saugatuck- Douglas History Center installed its latest round of historical markers.
The Center’s “History Lives Here” interpretive marker program, launched in 2022, is meant to reveal the layers of extraordinary history in everyday places along the lakeshore.
The new markers can be viewed in Saugatuck’s Village Square Park, Coghlin Park and on the west side of the chain ferry landing.
In Douglas, another new marker has been placed on the southern edge of the Blue Star Bridge over the Kalamazoo River.
They tell stories of the Harriss Pie Factory that became the Saugatuck Center of the Arts, LGBTQ culture and jazz at the Blue Tempo Bar, of Saugatuck’s early settlement and the life of chain-ferryman Jay Meyers.
Support for the project have come from historian Anna Minnebo and design by Sally Winthers. The new markers are underwritten by sponsors:
• Andersen Boatworks,
• John Cannarsa and Timothy Straker,
• Sam and Janine Cummings,
• Mike Mattern in memory of Bill Hess,
• Barry Spengler and Patricia Cleland,
• The Saugatuck-Douglas Art Club,
• Chris Thau and Daniel Dugan, and
• The Wendel Family Foundation.
