Holland history: "Black Lake" and the harbor

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a 10-part series on the history of the Holland area.

Dale Wyngarden
Water wasn’t just a recreational amenity in the Netherlands of the 1800s. It was the lifeblood of the nation, the predominant — and sometimes only — mode of transportation and the source of nutrition and food resources that launched international trade and built great wealth. Indeed, it was the humble herring that the Dutch caught and learned to cure that launched them to preeminence as a nation of traders.

When Holland, Michigan’s founder Albertus van Raalte put down roots on the West Coast of Michigan, the railroad networks that served the lumber industry (and would grow to over 3,000 miles in his lifetime) were in their early infancy. The Model T was still some 60 years away, and a national highway system even further. Places were connected by wagon trails. Water transport served much of the growing nation. Van Raalte immediately saw the potential of Holland becoming a harbor community and significant commercial port.

Connections

There were challenges, however. The lake on which Holland sat was connected to Lake Michigan by way of a shallow stream. And the stream meandered, northerly and westerly of the present channel. Great Lakes ships couldn’t navigate the shallow channel, and scows had to transport goods between city docks in Lake Macatawa and anchored ships in Lake Michigan.
A map of the city of Holland from 1871 that includes "Black Lake," what came to be known as Lake Macatawa.
The first local commercial pier was built in Lake Michigan 1852. By 1859, the channel had been straightened and excavated to a depth of 5 feet. The local community built revetments of brush and stone to protect their efforts, but such defenses were temporary at best against the forces of the  Big Lake. Maintaining a navigable depth of 5 to 6 feet year after year was near impossible.

Beginning the very first year, Van Raalte petitioned the federal government for assistance in building a proper channel. In 1849, one of his letters of petition noted that within two years some 5,000 immigrants had settled in the area, and that a harbor was critical to securing a prosperous future. It wasn’t until 1867, however, that a federal appropriation of $55,600 helped straighten the channel and build some more durable breakwaters.

For the next 32 years, intermittent federal harbor appropriations kept the harbor usable, but marginally so. Finally in 1899 a major federal appropriation rebuilt the breakwaters and channel to full deep-water commercial harbor standards. Shipping traffic counts for 1900 attest to the value of the harbor — for both commerce and passenger services — when 1,095 steamers, schooners, and barges passed through the channel.
A vintage postcard shows a view of Macatawa Park from somewhere on "Black Lake," what came to be known as Lake Macatawa
Tourism

A century and more ago, the lands on both sides of the channel were vibrant centers of tourism. Connected to Holland and Grand Rapids by the interurban railroad, there were several hotels, parks and picnic grounds, passenger ship docks, and even an amusement park. The market for vacations today has expanded to venues such as Disney, Las Vegas, and Caribbean Cruises. Other than the state park, and several private marinas, land around the channel has been redeveloped with private residences.
A vintage postcard shows dozens of people lining the shore of "Black Lake," what came to be known as Lake Macatawa, to fish.

The harbor itself has seen a gradual diminution of commercial status. With closure of the city’s coal-fired power plant, commercial use is reduced to two importers of construction aggregate, and occasional exporting of scrap metal by Padnos. It remains a significant Lake Michigan recreational harbor, however, with most of the marinas located at the western end of Lake Macatawa near the channel.

Dale Wyngarden worked for the city of Holland for three decades, much of that time overseeing the Planning and Development Department during the revitalization of the downtown. Now happily retired, he spends his time writing and gardening.