A Lake at the Heart of Hillsdale
For generations of Hillsdale residents, Baw Beese Lake has been more than a body of water. It has been a gathering place, a source of industry, a summer playground, and a familiar landmark woven into the everyday life of the community. Today, the neighborhood around the lake includes cottages, homes, public parks, walking paths, beaches, and working municipal facilities. Yet beneath those modern features is a much older story—one that begins with the Potawatomi people and continues through Hillsdale’s growth from a frontier settlement into a close-knit Michigan city.
At approximately 414 acres, Baw Beese is Hillsdale County’s largest lake. Its shoreline and surrounding roads have long connected residents with nature, recreation, and the wider city. The lake remains one of the places that gives Hillsdale its distinctive character: peaceful, practical, and full of memories.
The Potawatomi Roots of Baw Beese Lake
Long before roads, railroads, cottages, or waterworks, the lake was part of the homeland of the Huron-Potawatomi people. Chief Baw Beese led a band that lived, hunted, fished, and planted crops throughout the region in the early nineteenth century. The lake served as one of the group’s important base camps, while other seasonal locations were used for growing maize and hunting.
The chief’s name became attached to the lake through local tradition. One story says that members of the Fowler family, who arrived in Hillsdale County in the 1830s, were taken by Baw Beese to see the much larger lake after skating on a small frozen pond. Impressed by its size, the Fowler children declared that it should be called Baw Beese Lake. Whether every detail of the story can be proven, the tradition captures how early settlers remembered the chief and his connection to the water.
The relationship between the Potawatomi and early white settlers was often described as cooperative. Local families remembered receiving help with food, medicine, and survival during difficult winters. That friendship, however, existed within a larger national policy of removal. In 1840, Baw Beese and his people were forced to leave the area for a reservation farther west. Hillsdale residents reportedly lined the Chicago Military Road—today’s US-12—to say goodbye. That moment remains one of the most important and painful chapters in the lake’s history.
Water, Mills, and the Growth of Hillsdale
Baw Beese Lake helped make the early settlement of Hillsdale possible. Water from the lake powered mill operations that developed near the growing village. In the late 1830s, grist and sawmills were established around the area now associated with Cook, Bacon, Ferris, and Short streets. These businesses supplied flour, lumber, and employment while helping Hillsdale become a regional center.
The connection between the lake and downtown was practical as well as scenic. Water helped power industry, while nearby roads and later rail lines carried people and goods. As Hillsdale expanded, the lake became a defining feature of the city’s northern and eastern landscape.
The area around Waterworks Avenue also reflects this history. The northwest shore became associated with the city’s water supply facilities, and the lake continued to serve an important civic purpose even as recreation became increasingly popular.
The Railroad Resort Era
The arrival of rail transportation transformed Baw Beese Lake into a destination for visitors from beyond Hillsdale. In the late nineteenth century, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad developed a resort at Archer’s Landing, encouraging travelers to take excursion trains to the lake.
By the 1890s, the resort included bathhouses, a hotel, a dance pavilion, a lunchroom, an ice cream parlor, and a long dock for steamboat excursions. The lake offered swimming, boating, fishing, music, dancing, and picnicking. A large water toboggan slide added a thrill-seeking attraction that would have been the talk of the region. Special trains reportedly brought day-trippers from cities such as Chicago, Toledo, and Elkhart.
For local residents, the resort era created some of the lake’s most colorful memories. Visitors could rent canoes, ride lake wagons from Hillsdale, attend dances, or take a steamboat tour aboard the Edna. The resort was dismantled in 1915, but its influence lasted. It established Baw Beese as a recreational landmark and encouraged the growth of cottages and seasonal homes along the shore.
Parks, Beaches, and Public Recreation
After the resort disappeared, public recreation gradually became the center of lake life. Waterworks Park developed near the municipal facilities in the 1930s, with lawns, picnic tables, charcoal burners, benches, gardens, and access roads. Because state regulations restricted swimming near drinking-water intake pipes, residents relied on nearby private property for beach access.
That changed through the generosity of landowner Melvin Leypoldt, who allowed city residents to use the area now associated with Sandy Beach. Swimming lessons were organized, and the beach became a beloved gathering spot. Later, the city acquired Sandy Beach and received land for Owen Park from Ralph L. Owen. Together, these developments helped create a broad public recreation area along the lake’s north and east sides.
Today, the Baw Beese area includes a public beach, playground, picnic spaces, and a bike and hiking trail. The shoreline remains a place where families gather for summer afternoons, walkers enjoy changing seasons, and anglers find quiet stretches of water.
Cottages, Golf, and Community Life
The lake’s residential character grew steadily during the twentieth century. Modest cottages appeared beside larger seasonal homes, creating a neighborhood where generations of families could return year after year. Many homes around Lakeview Drive and the surrounding shoreline reflect this tradition of lake living.
The Hillsdale Golf and Country Club is another important part of the area’s heritage. Early organizers debated whether the club should be located near the lakeside resort or on property along the west shore. In 1913, a nine-hole course was laid out on land leased from E.O. Galloway. With limited funds, club members used sheep to help tame the rough grass and even moved a former bowling alley across the ice for use near the clubhouse.
That story says much about the community spirit of old Hillsdale: ambitious, resourceful, and willing to work together to build something lasting.
A Heritage That Continues
The Baw Beese Lake neighborhood has changed considerably over the decades. Railroad resorts have vanished, roads have replaced rough tracks, and modern homes stand where wilderness and farmland once stretched. Still, the essential character of the place remains.
The lake continues to connect Hillsdale’s past and present. Its name honors a Potawatomi leader whose people lived here long before the city existed. Its waters powered early mills, welcomed excursion trains, supported public utilities, and gave generations a place to swim, row, fish, picnic, and remember.
For longtime residents, Baw Beese is special because its history is not locked away in a museum. It is visible in the shoreline parks, the old routes toward Waterworks Avenue, the cottages, the golf course, the public beach, and the familiar view across the water. Every season adds another layer to the story—and that is what makes Baw Beese Lake one of Hillsdale’s most enduring neighborhoods.