OVER 100 YEARS ON WILDWOOD HARBOR

By Lauren Macintyre

Some of the lake's oldest families settled in beautiful Wildwood Harbor, where the Batchellor brothers of Boyne City built the picturesque Hotel Wildwood in 1907. The hotel, alas, did not last very long, but many resorters who came and built cottages near the hotel never left, establishing family legacies that endure today. Here are the stories of two such families.

ALEXANDER - BARKER FAMILY

It was 1922 when Elliot and Lena Alexander of Kansas City, searching for pristine northern air for their son Elliott Jr.'s health, came to Walloon with Elliott and his older sister Jane. They rented a cottage in Wildwood called Tanglewood, one of the hotel's original cottages, from Ruth Batcheller.

Their first trip to Walloon was certainly an interesting journey. After taking a train from Kansas City to Chicago, they boarded an overnight ferry called the SS Manitou. The ferry took them to Harbor Springs, where a rented "Tin Lizzie" was waiting for them to make the drive to Walloon.

The Alexanders were so charmed by Walloon that they bought Tanglewood. Daughter Jane Alexander Barker amusingly chronicled the early days on the lake in her 1996 publication A Place Like No Other, a fascinating history of Wildwood Harbor. They had no running water or electricity, so they utilized candles, kerosene and a pump. Before Forest Lane was built, farmers would drive their horse-drawn wagons on to the beach to bring fresh produce and dairy products.

Social life in Wildwood was very vibrant, and often included group boat trips to the country club for parties and golf. The Watson family, friends of the Alexanders from Kansas City, came to visit and rented the cottage next door. Their son Ray was near Elliott's age and the boys played golf constantly. Ray Watson would go on to become a fine golfer and club champion. But Ray's son Tommy was even better — he grew up to be celebrated golfer Tom Watson, British Open and Master's champion, whose Walloon roots are well documented.

Jane became a teacher and active community volunteer in Orlando, Florida, where the family had moved. She married attorney, later Judge Roger Barker and soon introduced their four children to the wonders of Walloon. They also adopted the two children of her brother Elliott, who along with his wife sadly perished in an airplane crash in 1950.

Many family treasures are preserved in the charming old cottage, including a six-generation family height chart on a door- frame. Tanglewood has always been a place where the extended family comes together, so not surprisingly today the cottage is owned by a congenial group of siblings and cousins. In summer 2022 more than thirty family members came together in Tanglewood to celebrate the Alexander family's 100th anniversary on Walloon… something to celebrate indeed!

WALLACE - WEZEREKMCAULIFFE FAMILY

At the eastern end of Wildwood Harbor, set high in the trees above the lake is Treetops, the longtime home of members of the extended Wallace family. The family history on Walloon, however, actually began in 1900 on South Shore, when Henry and Augusta Adams of Chicago brought their family to the Frank's Hotel/Thomas House. Later the family built a cottage on South Shore.

Henry and Augusta's daughter Helen Adams married Erwin Wallace, and it was their son Dr. James Wallace who made the move from South Shore to Wildwood Harbor. He and wife Frances Simpson decided they needed their own cottage, so in 1930 they commissioned local builder Ben Ellis to design a cottage. It was the first cottage constructed by Ben Ellis, who would become a well-known entrepreneur and builder of many a Walloon cottage.