Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society

Wayside Sign – Lakes and Attractions at the Orchard Lake Trolley Stop

GWBHS — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:13:30 +0000

The heart of the lake country was well-served by the trolleys in the early 1900s. No stop in the entire Detroit United Railway (DUR) trolley system was more popular than the Orchard Lake stop located here, where the parallel tracks of the Grand Trunk Railroad and the DUR trolleys crossed Seminary Road. Day-trippers from Detroit and elsewhere could walk to Orchard Lake for activities like swimming or fishing, or walk to Pine Lake to take a steam ferry to the Interlaken Hotel. The trolleys also brought cadets to the Michigan Military Academy for their classes and drills, until the academy closed in 1908.

Wayside Sign – Sylvan Lake Inn: The Dream of Merrill B. Mills

GWBHS — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:42:17 +0000

Merrill B. Mills had many plans in the early 1890s for his land around Sylvan Lake. His Sylvan Lake Improvement Association developed lakeside subdivisions and a resort hotel. He hired architect W. B. Stratton to design a resort hotel. The Sylvan Lake Inn was built in 1893 on this Point, including a dance pavilion, bowling alley, billiard parlor and riding stables. To make it easier to visit, in 1895 Mills built an electric trolley line along Garland Avenue linking the Inn to Pontiac. Festivities were followed by financial difficulties, and the Inn burned to the ground in 1903.

Orchard Lake Hotel

GWBHS — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 07:00:00 +0000

Orchard Lake Hotel (1908)

Ferries to Interlaken Hotel Postcard

GWBHS — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

A postcard showing Pine Lake and a dock with a boat house. The sign reads: Ferries to Interlaken Hotel, Lunches, Boats to Let.

Interlaken Landing, Pine Lake

GWBHS — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

A postcard showing the Interlaken Hotel and its boat house on Pine Lake.

Interlaken Hotel Postcard with Swing

GWBHS — Sun, 19 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

A postcard showing the Interlaken Hotel on Pine Lake, with a swing on the lawn. The handwritten text reads: Thanks for your card. This is an inn at Pine Lake, a favorite summer resort near here. Can’t use anything, best view side here yet.

Interlaken Hotel Postcard, Front View

GWBHS — Thu, 16 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

A postcard showing the front of the Interlaken Hotel on Pine Lake. A person riding a horse is seen in front of the hotel.

“The first floor was composed of a large hall with old-fashioned fireplace, a dining room that would seat 110 people, and a billiard room. Behind the dining room was the kitchen, a pantry, storeroom, and a refrigerator vault. A ladies’ parlor, smoking room, card room, and office facilities were also contained on this level. The second floor had twenty-two bedrooms, and the third another eight with five servants’ rooms. The interior was illuminated by 117 gas jets fed from a compound gas machine stored in a shed at the rear of the clubhouse.” Song of the Heron: Reflections on the History of West Bloomfield by Charles Martinez

Interlaken Hotel, View from Across Pine Lake

GWBHS — Sun, 14 May 2000 07:00:00 +0000

A photograph of the Interlaken Hotel on Pine Lake.

Interlaken Hotel

GWBHS — Thu, 04 May 2000 07:00:00 +0000

A photograph of the Interlaken Hotel on Pine Lake. Three cadets from the Michigan Military Academy are seen on the front lawn.

In 1888 the Interlaken Hotel, a three-story summer clubhouse, was founded on Pine Lake’s southern peninsula, as a place where “men of moderate means … could have a pleasant place to take their families in the summer.” Unfortunately, the Interlaken caught fire in 1915.

Interlaken Hotel

GWBHS — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 07:00:00 +0000

A reproduction photograph of a 1908 postcard showing the Interlaken Hotel and boat dock on Pine Lake.