FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT

Traveling stuntsmen would put on many shows during a July 4th celebration, getting meager pay by means of a collection after each performance.

The above scene shows the Samuel See home on the corner of Antrim and Bridge Streets. The building to the right was a roller rink, later a livery stable. The windmill served Charlevoix's first water supply station. The water was pumped from a well, not from Round Lake. The Chicago Club can be seen in the distance.

Samuel See bought this property from Seth Mason in 1872. It was his home until 1892 when he sold it to Sims Baker who, within a short time, sold it to a Mr. Noble, who three days later sold it to Robert W. Elston, who immediately tore down the house and built the Elston Hotel. The property is now a part of the Oleson Shopping Center.

A CENTRAL WATER SUPPLY

In 1890 Charlevoix felt a strong need for a supply of pure water, due to the rapid growth of the small village.

Through the efforts of a man of great civic pride, Mr. Will E. Hampton, who was editor of the Courier, a campaign was launched for a village water works and it was soon voted to install a plant at the southwest corner of Round Lake, just off Belvedere Avenue. An Artesian well was sunk for the water supply and a good flow was obtained. The water was found to be extremely pure; in fact, in testing it was found to be almost an exact duplicate of the famous Waukesha water, sold through-out America and Canada for health purposes. A brick building was constructed in 1892, though the pumps were not installed and the plant working until 1894. A man named Edward Guard was the first waterworks engineer. In a short time, although the quality of the water left nothing to be desired, the supply proved to be inadequate. The plant was abandoned and a better supply and site was found near the channel off Lake Michigan, just south of the pier.

MORE ABOUT THE WATER SUPPLY

Contrary to rumors that were started at that time, and that persist even to this day, the typhoid epidemic that hit the village at that time was not caused by the water being pumped from Round Lake. The only water ever pumped from Round Lake was by the fire department to put out fires within reach of its limited length of hose. To this day, the water of Charlevoix is the purest to be had anywhere, filtered as it is from the depths of Lake Michigan.

The present system, with the water tower, was installed in 1906, having been in constant use since that time.