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1873-2023 The Sesquicentennial
Celebration of the Lowering of Crystal
Lake, Benzie County, Michigan
Welcome to the "SESQUI" (sesquicentennial) celebration of the lowering of Crystal Lake, marking the 150th anniversary of the "creation" of the modern lake we know and love today.
A Thank You...
To my fellow Citizens, Visitors, and Friends,I'd like to offer a grateful Thank You to all for your participation in the celebration the 150th anniversary of the lowering of Crystal Lake. Please see my complete Thank You Letter.
The story of Crystal Lake is told in books, essays, letters, quotations, poems, songs, puzzles, artwork, maps, photographs, etc. Several vignettes been especially assembled for your reading enjoyment in this 24-page Commemorative Booklet.Sincerely,
Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels,
"President, pro tem, Benzie County River Improvement Company (1873)"
| The main appearances of "Archibald Jones" (a.k.a. Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels) from the 2023 Sesqui celebration: | |||||
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Date |
Time | Event | Location | Place | Sponsor |
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July 13, 2023 |
7:00 PM | Benzonia Academy Lecture | Benzonia | Mills House | Benzie County Historical Society |
| A Man, A Plan, A Canal, A Beach,
A Panorama A Saunterers View of Crystal Lake Presented by Dr. Stacy Leroy
Daniels A short version of the abstract of this lecture All 36 images for this lecture, as well 63 more related ones The video recording of this lecture |
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September 4, 2023 |
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM |
Archibald Jones Day: (1) History of the Lowering (2) "Special Tribute" & "Proclamation" (3) "Pulling the Plug" (4) "Meeting of the Waters" (5) "Ballad of Archibald Jones" |
Beulah | Village Park | Benzie County River Improvement Company the company responsible for lowering Crystal Lake back in 1873. |
What are we celebrating and why?
On August 23, 1873, Crystal Lake was unexpectedly lowered 17 feet (net of 12 feet after rebound)!
This was done during an ill-fated attempt to build a canal to connect the lake to the nearby Betsie River and Lake Michigan. The idea was that the canal would be used to bring boats up the canal into the lake to various resorts and popular locations, as well as float logs down to the Betsie River, and via that to the mills in the Frankfort area.
However, on that fateful day, during the building of this proposed navigable canal, a storm with white-capped waves washed away a temporary dam before permanent locks could be installed. The level of Crystal Lake went down 17 feet as a torrent of 56,000,000,000 gallons of water rushed downstream over a period of three weeks,
Seen as a "tragedy" at the time, it's now viewed as a "comedy", as the receding waters left behind a significant new beach. In fact, some 2,000 acres of lake surface were transformed into a 21-mile-long sandy beach around the lake, greatly opening opportunities for the whole area. It allowed for the founding of the Village of Beulah, which beget the further development of Frankfort, Benzonia, and Benzie County, as well as the coming of the railroad and subsequent carferries, installation of telegraph and telephone lines, development of lakeside resorts, and construction of many cottages, connected by an infrastructure of perimeter roads and trails.
The beach now supports more than 1,100 cottages, numerous resorts, several church camps, a yacht club, and a major state boating access site. The former railroad is now a walking/biking trail from the nearby port city of Frankfort to Beulah and further points southeast.
In other words, that "calamity" allowed the "creation" of the modern lake and its surroundings we know and love today!
We now annually celebrate the lowering of the lake on Archibald Jones Day, early September of each year. He was the chief engineer behind the unintended improvement. 2023, marks 150-year anniversary of that event, hence our Sesquicentennial Celebration.
["Archibald Jones: In Lignum Vitae" chainsaw artwork by Tom Gillman, Rustic Signs and Carvings, email. Location: Stacy Leroy Daniels' home, Midland, MI 48640]Related Items articles, songs, videos, Web sites, etc.
- About Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels your host for the SESQUI Celebration
- Archibald Jones Day 9/4/2023 captures, thanks to Larry White
- photos: Archibald Jones, watershed map, BCRIC, proclamation, lyrics to "Mistake at the Lake". Note that the "new" lyrics as sung by Doc Stewart contained the couplet, by DOC: "Jones, Jones. He lowered the Lake}; and by the AUDIENCE: "Jones, Jones, He made a mistake."
- videos: [Note: these MP4 videos will only work with the Google Chrome and the Safari Web browsers. As these are large files, allow a little time for each to download (they are not streaming).]
- Program Clip history, proclamation, pulling of the plug. William Kennis, Sen. Jon Bumstead, and Stacy Leroy Daniels (Archibald Jones). [MP4 file, 9/4/2023, 3:00, 216 mB]
- The Ballad of Archibald Jones "Doc" Stuart Shapiro [MP4 file, 9/4/2023, 4:23, 316 mB]
- Meeting of the Waters William Kennis and Stacy Leroy Daniels (Archibald Jones) [MP4 file, 9/4/2023, 1:10, 83 mB]
- The SESQUI Celebration in the news...
- Benzie Area Historical Society offers program about Crystal Lake (BCRP July 5, 2023 update)
- Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Crystal Lake's Transformation on Archibald Jones Day (BCRP, August 7, 2023 update)
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