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 – Lakes and Attractions at the Orchard Lake Trolley Stop
Object ID: 2013-070-007
Date: 2013
Collection: Hotels, Orchard Lake, TransportationSubjects: Hotel, Wayside Sign
Wayside Sign – Tracks Over Tracks on the Detroit United Railway
Object ID: 2013-070-006
Date: 2013
Collection: Orchard Lake, TransportationSubjects: Wayside Sign
Transportation transformed the landscape of rural West Bloomfield as electric trolleys and automobiles appeared around the turn of the 20th century. Many people traveled here for the first time from Detroit and Pontiac, and real estate developers sold lakefront lots. For easier access to beach communities north of the tracks, the Detroit United Railway (DUR) built an overpass to carry its trolleys to the other side of the Grand Trunk Railroad.
Wayside Sign – Waiting for Trolleys and Riding Between the Lakes
Object ID: 2013-070-005
Date: 2013
Collection: Orchard Lake, TransportationSubjects: Wayside Sign
The trolleys made it easy to travel through the lakes of Oakland County. In the early 1900s people got off or waited at platforms that were built for access to the track. The Detroit United Railway (DUR) bought land from local farmers for the track and waiting platforms, but taxes on this property forced the railway to charge high fares that later contributed to the demise of the trolley system. Here, where Long Lake Road crossed over the parallel Grand Trunk and DUR tracks, are stairs like those that people used to get on and off the trolleys.