(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column. This is the third and last part of the series. Part I can be found here and Part II can be found here.)
As we continue our journey through Waterloo’s past, it’s important to note that the W.P.A. was also involved with three other major construction projects at Mill, Cedar and Cassidy lakes. The construction of Mill Lake Camp (later called Mill Lake Outdoor Center) by W.P.A. workers began on Feb. 7, 1936. In addition to the sleeping quarters numbering 18 cabins, 10 other buildings were built – including the dining hall and kitchen, administration building, pump house and boathouse. Native trees, shrubs and grasses were also planted.
Cedar Lake Camp construction began in 1939, providing facilities similar to Mill Lake Camp. Mill Lake Outdoor Center had a capacity of 140 people. Cedar Lake was slightly smaller with a capacity of 124 people. Another residential camp was built at Cassidy Lake to serve as a technical training school for unemployed youth.
The Waterloo area was originally administered by the National Park Service, but not without controversy. The fact that N.P.S. closed all lands in the park to hunting was a serious bone of contention for area residents. This sparked a movement to have the park turned over to the Michigan Department of Conservation and operated as a state park. The land was administered by the National Park Service until 1943 when the area was deeded to the state. Waterloo became the largest of 11 state recreation areas established in southeast Michigan in the 1940s.
For over 50 years, the Outdoor Centers provided opportunities for thousands of school, youth and church groups to experience the great outdoors. The outdoor centers were often filled to capacity year around.
In fact, this author was the park’s first park interpreter (naturalist) and spent a day each week at each outdoor center leading field trips for the many groups using the facilities. Summers were spent presenting programs in the two modern campgrounds.
The outdoor centers were closed in 1981 due to budgetary cutbacks made necessary when the legislature reduced general fund support for the state parks from 50 percent to 15 percent. They opened briefly two years later, but by then most of groups using the facilities had made other arrangements.
Mill Lake Outdoor Center has been closed for many years.
Cedar Lake Outdoor Center is currently being leased by the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (M.U.C.C.).
The Cassidy Lake facility was eventually taken over by the Department of Corrections and after several changes is now a medium-security prison.
The state park system currently receives no general fund support from the State of Michigan, and operates entirely on revenue generated from user fees and the sale of the recreation passport that can be voluntarily purchased when a motor vehicle registration is renewed.
The Waterloo Recreation Area now includes about 21,000 acres of public land, and is Michigan’s most ecologically diverse state park. It hosts oak-hickory, beech-maple, and swamp hardwood forests, native prairies, marshes, fens, both tamarack and black spruce bogs, and many lakes and streams.
Almost every species of flora and fauna native to Southern Michigan calls Waterloo home.
Developed facilities include two modern and one rustic camp ground, a public beach and picnic grounds, the Discovery Center and numerous public boat launches. There are also over 20 miles of hiking bridle, and biking trails, and more than 90 percent of the park’s land is open to hunting.
Lands around the Discovery Center on Bush Road and the Big Portage Unit on Seymour Road are the exceptions for safety reasons. We are so fortunate to have this wonderful natural area in our community.
If you haven’t been there, you need to go. Stop by the Discovery Center where the friendly staff can provide information on all the opportunities available at Waterloo.
