Hot Town Summer in Saugatuck

Oral History

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Hot Town Summer in Saugatuck

Entry/Object ID

2024.41.348

Scope and Content

Filmed sometime between 1966 and 1979, this television documentary examines the behavior of the young visitors who flooded Saugatuck on summer weekends. Locations include the Maplewood Hotel, Water Street, Coral Gables, Crow Bar and Oval Beach. Interviews with Tom Johnson, owner of Old Crow/Coral Gables; Lynn McCray, Mayor of Saugatuck; Dr. Donald Bouma, Western Michigan University, Department of Psychology. Film Production: Jeff Davis, producer Marv Chau, director Chuck Lapham, production supervisor Pat Cooper, cinematography Documentary was video recorded from a TV broadcast by Mike Johnson when he was a teenager. Attempts to contact broadcaster or production team were unsuccessful. An edited version of this documentary was part of the "Cold War, Hot Towns" museum exhibit.

Context

To adults during this period, the "wild" behavior of "mobs" of young visitors to town was concerning. To the young visitors, and the business owners who benefited from their presence, it was just having a good time.

Collection

SDHC Exhibits

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2024.41

Acquisition Method

Found in Collection

Credit Line

To view this recording, scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click the blue web link. This video was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel this content should not be available to the public — or have additional information that will add context to this interview — please contact the SDHC Archives at archives@mysdhistory.org.

Oral History Details

Interviewee

McCray, Lynn, Johnson, Thomas

Length of Interview

25

Dimensions

Dimension Description

digital asset

Location

* Untyped Location

AWS/VidArch SSD/DVD originals drawer

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

220 Water/Coral Gables/Hotel Saugatuck/Columbia Hotel/Leiendecker's Inn

Web Links and URLs

https://sdhc-collections.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/videos/342-HotTown.mp4

Create Date

September 9, 2025

Update Date

September 9, 2025