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An early post card reproduced in many books available at the Museum Store

A Trip Back In Time to Wenona Beach

Bay County Historical Society Hosts 2nd Saturday

August 12, 2007       Leave a Comment
By: Stephen Kent

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On the Second Saturday of most months, the Bay County Historical Society presents free programs open to the public on topics of local interest. Recent programs have addressed photography, American Brownhoist, Preserving Bay City History and other topics. On September 8th the program will return when John Blizzard talks about Voyageur Travels.

Almost one hundred people showed up on Saturday August 11 to hear local historian and author James Watson talk about the research that went into his book Wenona Beach, which has just been reprinted and is available at the Museum Store.

Watson brings a unique perspective to this subject. His father worked at the park for many years and, as a boy, Watson himself was employed there. His first job was polishing the brass on the huge carousel. Showing a picture of a young boy riding a hand carved wooden horse, Watson said that most people see the boy or the horse; he sees small hands on a brass pole that he had to polish.

The heyday of Wenona Beach, which stood at the end of Patterson Road, was product of its time. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, people didn't have the entertainment we take for granted today. They worked hard all their lives and when leisure time was available on weekends places like Wenona Beach provided their outlet. Entire families would take the electric rail out to the beach and spend the entire day.

The electric rail itself played an important part in the development of the park. When Bay City's Traction Company begin service their rail line extended out to the bay where it made a loop and headed back to town. Wenona Beach may have been helped by that company since they needed riders on the weekends to make money. People could catch a train in town and be at the park in 20 minutes going at about 10 miles per hour. (Pretty good at that time since a horse drawn buggy probably made 6 miles per hour.)

The earliest records indicate that the park started with a Casino and band stand around 1876. The term Casino didn't refer to gambling but meant a type of building. As the park grew other buildings and venues were added. Dancing, boat rentals, swimming, picnicking, and entertainment evolved over the years.

In the first part of the 1900's entertainment became a staple of Wenona Beach and the casino. Vaudeville was the rage and all the major acts seemed to have played at Wenona Beach. Houdini came to Bay City, Woody Herman and other Big Bands appeared. With the decline of those days, the amusement park began to fade until resurrected by the giant theme parks of today.

Many Bay Citians know about, and may even remember, the Jack Rabbit wooden roller coaster. But the first roller coaster dates back to the turn of the century and was called the "Leap the Dip". It ran at the amazing speed of about 10 mph on a wooden track. Both this contraption and the later Jack Rabbit, built in 1917, are thought to have been made from kits available in those days. It is known that the same Jack Rabbit design was also found in Lansing and Grand Rapids.

Although many people remember the last years of Wenona Park, the entire history is spotty and relies on historians like Watson, and others working at the Museum, to fill in the details. Watson described methods of studying old photographs to deduce where structures were found and when the pictures were taken. The direction of the wind off the bay is seen in flags; the style of dress, cars, horses, etc.; the location of landmarks like the rail loop; the relation of a known building that appears in different pictures. It's all a detective story to construct a history that may not have seemed worth recording at the time.

Thanks to the Bay County Historical Society and it's members, the history of the area has been preserved. The museum is open to the public and houses an amazing collection of books, records, and artifacts. The recently completed Bay County Gallery main exhibit provides a walk through time from early Native Americans, the lumbering era, manufacturing, war years, and, of course, Wenona Park.

Photos appearing in this article appear in a number of books available in the Museum Store. Particular thanks go to Leon Katzinger and James Watsons who have documented this historical treasure in their books.






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Stephen Kent

Steve Kent and his family have lived in Bay City for 40 years. He is VP of Technical Services at MMCC which produces MyBayCity.Com. Kent is active in many Bay City civic organizations.

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