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photograph

Catalog Number
1966.7.5
Date of Origin
ca. 1900
Description
Black and white photograph taken from "baldhead" on the south side of the channel, looking north towards Ottawa Beach and the Ottawa Beach Hotel.  Lake Macatawa is visible at right.

On the back, in ink, is the following information: "Merry Christmas From Henry Dutton To Aunt Lollie Post.  View of Ottawa Beach From Baldhead".
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.
Gift of
Post, Mrs. C.F.