Dianna Cross Toran

Woodland Echoes Dianna Cross Toran

For many years, Woodland Park was a best-kept secret for the residence and vacation property owners. Her lake was and still is according to a recent conservation report pristine. As with most secrets, they are not kept for long, and the word got out. People have moved in or bought the propertysome very inexpensively that went back for taxes. These new people probably wonder why there are so many black property owners in Woodland Park. The majority of the newcomers are not aware that Woodland Park was once a black resort that was created during segregation. They never stop to read the historical marker in front of the old one-room schoolhouse that tells about Woodland Parks history. They are unaware that there were once hotels and rental cottages that couldnt keep up with the summer demand or that the now-deserted beach used to be packed with many black vacationers and locals. They dont know that there was once a grand clubhouse that dominated Mayo Point. Many of these new people swim in the shallow waters of that very point where the clubhouse boardwalk once led. They havent heard of the beautiful Hallie Q. Brown, a black elocutionist, who once gave a speech for Queen Victoria. Hallie owned a humble cottage near the public beach. The new people dont know that the famous boxer Joe Louis spent lots of time in Woodland Park because his wifes family owned a cottage across the street from the old Kelsonia Hotel. Or that W. E. B. Du Bois once stood on a dock in Woodland Park with its founder, Marian Auther. They would be interested to know that during Prohibition, Dutch Anderson would be killed in a shoot-out with the police in Muskegon. Only a few days earlier, he had been to what is now the Shangri-La in Woodland Park to pick up his bootleg whisky and beer. They only know that Woodland Park has one of the most beautiful lakes in the area and that it is a wonderful place to bring the family. They know they can count on the old-timers waving to them with a smile as they pass them by. But there is so much more for them to learn about this enchanted place and so much more about Woodland Park, its settlers, and the people in the surrounding communities.