CHARLEVOIX — One hundred years ago, after buying a series of half-page ads touting the wonders of his brand-new resort town called Boulder Park west of town, our famous stonemason Earl Young went all out and bought a full-page ad in the Charlevoix Courier of August 6, 1924.
The 36-year-old’s career had finally begun. The Courier was hot on his heels. The paper’s longtime rival, the Charlevoix Sentinel, remained strangely silent, while the Courier was a little over the top in its enthusiasm.
“HAVE YOU SEEN BOULDER PARK? The newest resort section is a beauty spot. Road grading work is currently underway – lots of wonderful natural views. Driving into South Point, along the winding gravel road that skirts the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, one notices on the left, just after passing the town’s auto camp (current site of the Charlevoix Hospital), two beautiful gates flanked by beautiful side posts made of natural boulders. Nearby is a sign alerting that this is Boulder Park, the new resort section.
“Apart from the excellent position of the property, as regards the general contour of the lake shore it borders, there is nothing special to mention as we pass by on our way. But if one stops, gets out and makes his way up the shore under the beautiful trees with which the settlement abounds; if one explores the natural paths shaded by white birch and evergreen trees; the grassy areas surrounded by white-barked fence posts, as if a cheerful band of fairies (fairies or elves) had fenced off the lawn for their mystical rites…” and so on and so forth.
“From the two main gates leading onto Lake Shore Drive, two north and south roads, called Eastern and Western Roads, traverse the settlement from Shore Drive to Garfield Avenue, terminating there in gates similar to those at its northern end.” That was the intention, but neither Eastern nor Western Roads ever reached as far as Garfield, and no stone gates are visible on that road today. If you take the road that passes the south side of the hospital, it ends at a left turn onto Upright Street. At the turn, Earl planned to create a third, eastern entrance into Boulder Park, on the road now called Park Avenue West.
“Time purchases of Boulder Park lots are permitted, with ten percent of the purchase price to be paid at the time of purchase – the balance to be paid in monthly installments plus interest at six percent. No taxes are to be paid on any of the lots until January 1926. We are told that ten of the lots have been sold so far and they are going fast.” That may or may not have been true, because Earl was still advertising the chance to win a “free new Ford coupe” if your warranty deed and proof of title were among the first ten recorded.
Ten envelopes were already sealed, each containing one of the first ten numbers. “One of these envelopes was randomly selected by employees of the Charlevoix State Savings Bank and is now in their possession unopened.” Perhaps there were delays on the part of customers between making a deal and the transaction being recorded. Definitely a nice bonus to get.
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In the same Courier issue was a story about the then three-year-old Sears Silver Black Fox Ranch near Ironton. Its sales had doubled from the previous year and it was becoming equally attractive to both locals and summer visitors. A handbook of the fox breeding industry states: “The fur of a silver fox is the only fur that cannot be successfully imitated, and it has only one competitor in the markets of the world – the Russian sable. Single pelts once sold for as much as $2700 (nearly $50,000 in today’s money), and a pair of A-1 breeding foxes fetched the enormous price of $34,000 ($650,000). In late November or early December a silver fox’s fur is at its finest, and the cold winter in this part of the country produces the finest kind of silver black fox fur.”
We were made aware that City Hall, built in 1939, is now 85 years old. A few years ago I led a walking tour of downtown and Earl Young’s Mushroom Houses, and City Hall was on the route. One member of the group was an architect. His eyes lit up when he first saw the building and its retro 1930s accents. He declared it to be one of the finest surviving examples of “Streamline Moderne,” an actual term in architecture and design, that he had ever seen.
“Never let this building fall,” he said. “It wouldn’t look out of place in the Rockefeller Center in New York City.”
