Hamlin Lake Preservation Society

Annual Dinner & Meeting

WHEN:       Saturday, August 6, 2011

WHERE:   Hamlin Township Hall

Judy Thorp gave a presentation on

       The Dummy Train.

This train provided 25 years of service to the Ludington area and furnished us with some of our fondest stories of the past.  In the early part of the twentieth century, riding the dummy out to Hamlin was the most fun filled thing to do on a Sunday afternoon!  The presentation will include a short historical reenactment of a ride on the Dummy from Dowland Street to lower Hamlin Lake to catch a launch to the upper lake.

Judy grew up in Ludington and her grandfather, Bill Hoxie, purchased the house on Hamlin Lake that is now the Thorp home in 1956.  When she learned that the cottage had once been the Griswolda Inn and was the final stop for the stage coach coming out from town, she became very interested in learning more of the history of the area.  Ever since then she has been putting this history together a little bit at a time.