![]() People held picnics and family reunions on Kline’s Point. Rides were offered from Kline’s Point and Grandview across the lake. The steamboat must have been brought to Marcellus on a train. In July 1895, Kline advertised in the Marcellus newspaper offering rides on a small steamboat for just a few days. William, born in 1853 in Pennsylvania, paid his siblings although it took him over 10 years to raise the money and collect all their deeds.ģ7 year-old William Kline constructed a small building on the Point and was available for hire. She provided in her Will that The Point and the 97.80 acre farm surrounding it went to her husband John for his life and then all remainder Interests to her son, William Kline, if William paid $120 to each of his 5 Brothers and sisters. A century later social media would replace the postcard. These penny postcards bragged of good times. Many of these travelers wrote postcards back to friends and relatives of their experiences. A livery man would whisk the traveler to a nearby hotel in town or summer Hotel at a lake if the proprietor didn’t arrange for transfer himself. They would take the traveler’s trunk from the train to a wagon. There were always boys and livery men that hung around the depot when trains were expected. The point was just 40 minutes from the train depot by horse and wagon and known as a lovely spot to have a picnic and fish. His descendants later started a summer hotel. The Johnsons had owned that part of the lake since 1875. ![]() She purchased her Point and “97.80 acres in Section 8” for $1200 from Joseph and Caroline Johnson in March of 1888. Leah Kline owned an attractive “Point” of land at Fish Lake that was still an Island most of the year. Several dozen clean, sandy, unspoiled lakes were within easy travel from the depot. By the 1890’s summer hotels were started around Marcellus, Michigan where many trains passed on the Peninsular Railroad. The many lakes of southwestern Michigan were just short trips by train. Resorts were slapped up quickly and cheaply to cater to the train travelers who sought the clean air, lakes and streams of Michigan. Chicago, South Bend and Indianapolis families usually headed north to Wisconsin or Michigan. Families that could afford it often left dad behind working while mother and children went to the country. The lure of clean air was very compelling. Chicago had stockyards and slaughter houses on its west side – and westerly winds. Thousands of horses, chickens, pigs and other small animals brought hordes of insects. Sounds and odors penetrated open windows and continued through the night. Merchants often lived above their stores or shops. Horses were clip clopping on every street. Summer in any large American city was hot, dusty, full of unpleasant odors and noisy. Transportation by American trains was fast, reliable, comfortable and affordable. Travelers wanted to leave the sweltering summer heat of the cities and visit the great natural sites in America. Mackinac Island became a travel destination with a Grand Hotel replacing furs and fish. Steamships traversed The Great Lakes carrying iron ore, copper, lumber and passengers. There was more leisure time for the housewife. Small factories, new processes, catalogs, patents and a rising merchant class emerged in the cities. ![]() The Industrial Age brought prosperity to many. A few families had been very “well off” with servants and summer houses. ![]() A “middle class” began to emerge in the growing cities of America. The trains ran north to Michigan forests, east to Detroit and west to ports on Lake Michigan. By the 1870’s train companies laid tracks to carry logs and lumber. The years between the mid 1870’s and the late 1930’s were the hay days of traveling salesmen, artists, performers, and beginning tourism in southwest Michigan.
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