photograph
Catalog Number
2020.14.264Description
Black and white photograph showing an automobile with the Donnelly periscope mirror on the roof. The car is parked at Point West in Holland, MI.History
The Point West Inn was located on Lake Macatawa at the end of South Shore Drive in Macatawa Park, just south of Holland, MI. It was operated by Richard Den Uyl (1929-2011) from 1963 to 1986. The elegant restaurant faced Lake Macatawa. Den Uyl believed a happy work environment produced happy customers. This philosophy was a key to his success.New owners bought the property in 1986 for $4.4 million. In 1993 they filed for bankruptcy which led to the sale of the property in 1994. This third owner had the Point West Inn torn down in 1995.;The Donnelly Corporation began in Holland, MI in 1905 when the Kinsella Glass Co. selected Bernard P. Donnelly (1879-1932) and his assistant John A. Kelley to operate a new mirror manufacturing plant at 50-72 River Ave. This area of River Ave and West 3rd Street would remain the Donnelly headquarters throughout the 20th century. In 1910 Kinsella sold the operation to Donnelley and Kelley and the Donnelly-Kelley Glass Company was formed. Kelley would sell his 40% of the company to Donnelly in 1924 for $72,000.
1910 saw $120,000 in sales while 1920 saw $285,000. By 1928 sales had dropped to $170,000. They dropped to $155,000 in 1930 and $80,000 by 1932, the year Bernard P. Donnelly suddenly died from a heart attack.
Bernard’s son John F. Donnelly (1912-1986) took over operation of the company in 1933. By 1938 his mother Mary C. Fenlon Donnelly (1878-1963) was in that role. Mary would serve as president of the Donnelly-Kelley Glass Company until 1960.
By 1941 sales had climbed up to $160,000, rising to $420,000 by 1946. Military contracts were largely responsible for this increase. By the 1960s Donnelly was producing automotive mirrors.