Find

negative

Catalog Number
no visible number 83
Date of Origin
ca. 1950
Description
Negative taken from the east end of Ottawa Beach, several hundred feet in the air, looking west towards Lake Michigan.  Macatawa Park and the lighthouse, as well as the channel, are clearly visible.  This image was taken in winter, snow can be seen on the ground throughout Ottawa Beach.
History
Ottawa Beach is the name given to the area along the north side of the channel and northwest section of Lake Macatawa, in Park Township. It received its name in 1886 with the construction of the hotel Ottawa, built on a hillside near the beach.


The Ottawa Beach Hotel (originally known as the Hotel Ottawa) was built by the West Michigan Park Association (a group organized in Grand Rapids in 1885) in the summer of 1886 on the north side of the channel, on a bluff. Across the channel, on the south side, was the rival Macatawa Park Hotel.

The Ottawa Beach Hotel burned to the ground on November 6, 1923.