Round Lake Waterfront
Once vessels passed the lights and entered the harbor, they tied up mainly along the western edge of Round Lake down a gentle slope from Bridge Street. This is the Mason Street dock in the 1880s. As water traffic increased with continued improvement of the channel, Round Lake’s wharf and dock space, while extensive in the mid 1870s, began to come at a premium. Vessels often had to tie up one against the other until more docks went in, as did the schooner at right.
But because the wharfs were rarely maintained, the waterfront began to deteriorate until it became a stinking, dangerous mess. This is the Mason Street area not many years after the previous image. Beginning in the 1890s, commercial craft began to decline in numbers after the arrival of the railroad in 1892. Lumbering would die out by 1915, so the vessels needed to sustain it died away also. Repairs to any wharf were made only when absolutely needed. Visitors saw and smelled much of this area first. “Charlevoix, the Beautiful” was turning into anything but.
Seen from the deck of the passenger liner Missouri as she swung into Wilbur’s Dock, the deplorable state of the waterfront contrasts with the elegance of the resorters gathered at summer’s end to board for their journeys home. It was ironic that a town with a reputation as a resort paradise presented such an ugly introductory façade. Areas had to be cordoned off to prevent people from falling through the rotted planks. Once the city woke up to what was happening and only getting worse, the clean-up began here in the 1930s.
Improvements were made all the way to the Antrim Street dock. Finally Round Lake became the favored destination for pleasure craft it remains today, attracting yachts and sailboats from around the country and foreign registrations.