Sylvan Lake is called “The Prettiest Little City in Michigan.” Its name means “wooded shady lake” for its unique natural beauty. A trip to Sylvan Lake gave people a new attitude on life. After the 1890s, trolleys and automobiles allowed people to visit Tower Beach on the Telegraph Road side of the lake for slide rides, picnics, fishing and swimming. In the 1940s marshy lakefront property on the south side of the lake was filled to create Ferndale Beach and Park for the enjoyment and growth of the community.

The world got bigger for most people around 1900. Trolleys and automobiles appeared in southeast Michigan around then, and more people could enjoy distant places. Travel time from Detroit to Sylvan Lake’s natural beauty and attractions was slashed to about an hour. In the early 1890s, entrepreneur Merrill B. Mills planned hundreds of acres of his property at Sylvan Lake as streets, subdivisions and the luxurious Sylvan Lake Inn. Even more boldly, he created a local link to the regional trolley system, inviting visitors and investors to the community he was creating.