Town Of Spring Lake history

Captain Forman Osborn, born in 1806 in Wall Township, was a prominent, well-known man of his day.

Later the property was acquired by Jeremiah Chandler and sold by him to Samuel Emmons on April 23, 1832.

In 1833 he came to Michigan and first located in Ionia County.

In 1837 he determined to try his fortunes in what was then the far west, and set out upon the slow and toilsome journey to Michigan.

Abraham Osborn purchased 150 acres in the southern part of town in 1838 and through the years added to his holdings.

GEORGE D. SISSON, of Spring Lake, was born in Oxford, Chenango County, New York, in 1839.

FRANCIS LILLEY, of Spring Lake, was born in England June 23rd, 1844.

U. B. EAMES is a native of New York state, and came to Ferrysburg in 1848.

The first meeting of the electors for organization was at the school house near Barber's Mill (since consumed by fire) April 2, 1849.

Ferry to drive their machinery at Ferrysburg, then called Ottawa Point, for five years from April 10, 1850.

He has also been engineer of tugs for several years, among these was the "Claude." On April 6th, 1853, he married Carolina A. Friant, by whom he has had two children, one of whom survives.

In 1856 he came to Spring Lake, and for twelve years worked for Cutler & Savidge in charge of millwright work.

Le Moyne S. Smith was the first postmaster of Spring Lake, and he resigned in 1857, when H. A. Reed held the office for several years.

In 1860 the firm of Cutler & Savidge was formed, which became one of the most extensive and best known lumber firms in the West.

In 1861 he sold to Messrs.

THOMAS SAVIDGE is a native of Pennsylvania and came to Spring Lake in 1865, and remained for a short time.

He has been interested in the business of the firm since 1866, and attended to the sales of lumber in Chicago.

In 1867 he sold to Charles E. Soule, and bought thirty acres in Section Nine, which he also cultivated as a fruit farm.

In 1868 he came to Spring Lake and entered the employ of Cutler & Savidge.

The discovery of a spring of magnetic water in 1870 led to the erection of this large hotel by a company, which ultimately became the property of the late Hunter Savidge, and is now owned by Mrs.

The saw mills of Spring Lake in order from the north side of the peninsula, and going first west and then turning east around the south side, which lies on the river, are first the Monroe, Boyce & Co. mill, above which is an unused fruit drying factory, built 1871 by Messrs.

In June 1872, he formed a co-partnership with Thomas Seymour, and engaged in the manufacture of lumber.

He began in his present place as saw filer at the mill of Monroe, Boyce & Co., in the Spring of 1873.

As early as 1874 it had nine saw mills in its limits, and some of these, the largest on the river; and also two planing mills and a sash and door factory.

The 266 acre Osborn Farm was purchased by the company and groundbreaking on the first and largest hotel, the Monmouth House, was started in November of 1875.

The Monmouth House opened for business in June of 1876.

For several years he followed civil engineering, and since 1877 has been at work for Sisson & Lilley at their mill.

In 1878 he was elected County Register, which office he held for one term.

Sinclair was engaged at lumbering in the woods, and in 1879 took the position of foreman and book-keeper for the lumber firm of Sisson & Lilley, in which place he still continues.

WILLIAM H. NEWHALL came to Spring Lake in the Spring of 1880, and entered the employ of the Cutler & Savidge Lumber Company as saw filer.

A. S. PARRISH, engineer at the Bacheller mill at Ferrysburg, has been in that position since July 1881.

The Letchworth hotel was erected circa 1883 and was named for John Letchworth of Philadelphia, who built and operated the hotel.

John Lucas, president of the Spring Lake Beach Improvement Co., admitted in 1885 that the company had inadequate funds to provide for the maintenance of such services as a jail, police, fire, lighting, streets, sidewalks, and sewers.

One of many of the early guest accommodating hotel/cottages was the Palmer House built in 1886.

In 1887, construction began on the present Methodist church at the corner of Fourth and West Lake Avenues.

At 104 Salem Avenue is the Spring Lake Hotel, built by Timothy Hurley in 1888 and known as Timothy Hurley’s Grand Central Stables Carriage House, a stagecoach stop with hotel rooms on the top floor for the coachmen.

In 1891, Susan Urie purchased the Hastings Square block and was proprietor of the ten cottages.

On March 14, 1892, the town was incorporated and a mayor and a four-member council were elected.

The unique history of this home is its service as the Spring Lake Golf Clubhouse when the Club was established as a 9-Hole course in 1898.

Many of these Victorian style homes were built before the 1900’s and have an old time look of a dollhouse.

In 1901, the Sussex was damaged by fire, but restored and joined with the remaining cottage adjacent to it to become the Essex and Sussex Hotel.

As a Councilman in 1903, he helped the Borough acquire the land at Warren & Fifth Avenues which now bears his name, Potter Park.

The Lake House was demolished in 1904 and the bowling alley was saved and eventually ended up at Alexander’s, a popular establishment on Third Avenue.

By 1905, maps indicate the property was known as the “Spring Lake Inn”. The Villa, a typical summer cottage, was built circa 1905 on Warren Avenue facing Potter Park.

Upon the untimely death of William Potter, Dan Hills, Council President, became Mayor in 1907, only to lose his seat to O.H. Brown in the following election.

In 1908, after fire had completely destroyed the church, St Ann’s Catholic Church building was purchased for use by the Methodists and moved to its Pennsylvania and Fourth Avenues site.

He had started the business in 1910 with a carriage service.

Susan Urie sold it to The Hastings Square Hotel Company in March of 1914 before it opened in July.

The first motorized equipment was purchased in 1915 and stored in Mayor Ellis Gant’s garage until room was made at the fire house.

In 1916, a new Spring Lake Golf Clubhouse was built at its present site on the course on Warren Avenue in Spring Lake Heights.

The Missouri House on Ocean Road was bought and then shipped from the Centennial Exhibit in Philadelphia, and established first as a residence before becoming the Rainbow Cottage in 1921.

Danby was an antique dealer and he opened it every year as an antique shop until he sold it in 1925.

Henry and his wife, Margaret, purchased the hotel in 1928, added to the size and changed the façade to stucco.

In 1929, the north wing was added to the hotel, providing an additional seventy-five guest rooms.

The guest house was bought in 1930 by Frank Van Brunt who added 60 rooms, a new dining room, and changed its name to the Shoreham Hotel.

With the Great Depression in full swing and money tight, Carlos and Alice moved to Greenwich Village in late 1931 and embraced the bohemian community and arts scene.

In 1937, Edwin and Clara Alexander purchased the Sandpiper and began renovations.

In 1939, Fred and Amelia Cosgrove purchased the furnished Warren Hotel.

Andy enlisted in 1941, and spent four years in the Army including the European Theater of Operations.

In 1949, the Letchworth was purchased by Anna McCaffrey and Rosemary and William T. Schreck.

In the early 1950’s the Hewitt-Wellington was purchased by Margaret and Michael Malone, who, along with their ten children operated the hotel.

Spring Lake was officially incorporated April 9th, 1951.

In 1955, the Essex Lounge was opened to the public and offered dancing and entertainment for the guests.

Frank died on December 15, 1956 at his home, 1112 Third Avenue after a long illness.

In 1961 Ed was picked to succeed Mayor Gant and won the election handily.

In 1964, the Fiftieth Anniversary was celebrated with a Ball.

He graduated from Monmouth College in 1965 with a degree in political science.

About five years after that, Lester Harvey, Sr. operated the hotel until Richard Carroll purchased the Allaire in 1969.

In the early 1970’s, the Warren was purchased by Chuck Carroll, who then sold it to his sister, Mary Carroll Long and her husband Thomas Long.

Baird, had she been alive, would have been heart broken when the 92 year old Presbyterian Church, in which she found so much consolation, was razed by a suspicious fire on April 27, 1974.

The Taylor’s son, Harold, and daughter-in-law, Dorothy, joined his parents in operating the hotel before it was sold to the Mitchells in the 1980’s, who then renamed it the Colonial Ocean House.

Stone Post Inn, Washington Ave. It was renamed the Kenilworth in 1981 when it was purchased by Ross Mason, whose hometown in England was of that name.

A partnership between CT Investments, Inc. and Prospect Ventures, Inc. purchased the property in 1987, and turned it into Spring Lake’s first condominium hotel, minus cooking facilities, consisting of 29 rooms and suites.

He was sworn into office for his second full term on January 1, 1988.

After his election to Mayor in 1990, Tom became Executive Director of the Monmouth County Democrats for four years.

In 1998 the Kaloostian Family purchased it, and today the Ocean House still operates under the capable proprietorship of the Kaloostian Family.

In 2000, Mayor Tom Byrne asked Jennifer to run for an open seat on the Spring Lake Council.

Tom served as Mayor of Spring Lake for a total of 16 years and retired in 2006 when he was appointed to the Monmouth County Tax Board.

Of his three children, Washington is still a Spring Lake resident, Maria died in 2009 at the age of 96, and Doris Marucci Martin lives in Florida.