Magician Lake History
Our Name
There are two theories regarding the origin of Magician Lake’s name:
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Magician Lake was originally known as Silver Lake for its silver appearance, as the bottom of the lake is rich in the silver-colored marlstone. Quite some time ago, the area allegedly became popular with gentleman from the Chicago area who were magicians, for which the lake became known as “The Magician’s Lake.” Eventually, the name evolved simply to Magician Lake, as it is known today.
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According to this legend, the indigenous tribes in the area supposedly revered the lake for its ability to maintain a steady water level, no matter the severity of drought conditions. For this reason, they called the lake “Magic Lake,” which would later develop into Magician Lake.
The History of Polk's Land
by Cynthia Polk Muller
Grandfather Edmund Richard Polk and Grandmother Agnes Mary Little Polk raised a family of five children – Wesley, Arthur, Robert, Mary, and Edna. The children were born in LaGrange, Illinois, in a large, rambling house, which is still in use and remains painted the original yellow. Grandfather was an entrepreneur who dealt in horses, real estate, and various other business ventures. Both he and Grandmother owned property in Illinois and Michigan, and Grandfather liked to trade, and sell, his plots of land. Prior to summering at Magician Lake, the family would travel to Muskegon, to a tract of land called Idlewild, on Lake Michigan. Many family photographs record their happy times there.
On June 23, 1910, E.R. Polk purchased the Magician Lake property from Mary H. Southwick for a sum of $3,460. The property was a grain farm prior to the sale; the land was left fallow under Edmond’s ownership. The Polk’s, with the help of their sons and daughters, developed a summer resort, providing rental cottages for the season. Of eight original cottages, built one per year, beginning in 1911, seven are still in use as summer homes. The cottages had no electricity, and were supplied with blocks of ice cut out of the lake in the winter and stored in the ice-house. As a child I remember when all the oak ice-boxes were dumped to make way for the new Frigidaire’s. Oh, to have all those old ice-boxes now!
Behind the original 8 cottages there was a swamp that sported beautiful, bright yellow cowslips each spring. The fields behind the family cottage, where the old white house stands now, were blanketed with waving, yellow daisies. What a treasure to discover one solitary cowslip plant at the edge of the channel last spring (2006) where the swamp once was!
On April 19, 1930, Edmund and Agnes gave the Magician Lake property and business to their son, Arthur Eugene Polk. A quit-claim deed was filed for the sum of one dollar. Edmond R. Polk passed away in December 1936 and Agnes in October 1950.
The love of the land by magical Magician Lake has spanned many years, and new generations of Polk’s and other families near and far. Many changes have taken place over the years, many faces have come and gone, and still others return, year after year, to enjoy the peace and tranquility of Magician Lake.
Polk Bridges
After completion of the mile-long “Polk Channel dig” in October 1959, Arthur E. Polk, Sr. made a deal with the Cass County Road Commission to purchase the Sumnerville, MI single-lane bridge (called a “pony” bridge) which was scheduled for replacement after 31 years of service. The Road Commission sold the Sumnerville Bridge for “scrap,” for $250. Mr. Polk, Sr. and his son Arthur Polk, Jr., poured concrete abutments in preparation for installation. Following Thanksgiving 1959, the bridge was lifted from over the Dowagiac River in Sumnerville and was moved, by house-movers, 22 miles to its current location on Polk Road; it remained in service for another 45 years.
In 2005, concern arose regarding the condition of the wooden planking on the bridge as well as its inability to carry heavy load limits such as fire trucks, cement trucks, and waste management vehicles. Consultation with an engineering firm produced a plan to construct a new bridge that would accommodate heavy weight limits and also continue to allow for watercraft passage along the entire length of the channel (detractors wished to fill in the road to eliminate the need of a bridge). In the dead-of-winter, January 2006, forms were built, concrete poured, supports put in place, and the road-bed laid. By the end of two weeks, our new bridge was a reality!
Initially, a wooden bridge was considered; the next generation proposed that we use materials that are more lasting as they did not wish to address the same challenge during their lifetimes.
Businesses on the Lake
Did you know that two of the oldest lake associations on Magician Lake were Happyland (on the north side of the lake) and Maple Island Resort Association, which still exists today for the residents of Maple Island?
People came to Magician Lake, mostly in the summer, to escape the heat and find the cool lake breezes while sitting on the front porches of their lake cottages. Fish were abundant, and fishing was one of the main sources of lake entertainment. However, pavilions were often built that would house games, picnics, music, and dance as common sources of community entertainment. Old pictures of life at Magician Lake would often see men and women dressed in white shirts and blouses with long skirts and dark trousers enjoying summer at the lake. Wooden rowboats and canoes dotted the shoreline with a few wooden piers that were often times more permanent than removable.
Life was far different with kerosene lamps, less noise from boats and motors, and entertainment provided by less technology. Sit some quite morning or late evening and imagine the history that has gone on at Magician Lake for decades before us.
Magician Lake never really had a fancy dine-in restaurant like others around the Sister Lakes Area, but rather we had the soda fountain type. Polk’s Boathouse was one example where it was a big deal to row or motor down and tie up your boat at the big brown Boathouse (near the channel) for an ice cream cone or a hot dog. Music would be playing from the jukebox and you were always interested in “who else” might be there if you were a teenager.
Down at the far east end there were two businesses – the old Hull Grocery Store and Bob’s Harbor Resort and Rentals. If you lived on the west end of Magician Lake, it might be an all day trip to visit those places and come back home. You could be gone in a boat rowing around or using a small horse motor, never wearing a life jacket, and no one really worried about you as there was very little traffic to bother you and certainly no big power boats or jet skis.
The now BT’s pub was once a meat market run by the Dick Curran farm (red barn on M152) who raised black angus cattle. Later, it was a grocery store run by the Guy family, and then finally, it became a tavern called The Gunn Inn, then The Weekender, and now BT’s Pub.