Name/Title
Dorr Felt on ResortersEntry/Object ID
2023.50.93Scope and Content
Transcript of a letter written by Dorr Felt to the Grand Rapids Press about local attitudes towards restorers:
SUGGESTS DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TOWARD RESORTERS
(Grand Rapids Press)
Editor of the Press:
I note your editorial in The Press of April 9 entitled "Real Estate Buyers vs. Speculators. I am not sure that I correctly understand what seems to be an insinuation that "outsiders" are responsible for the present attempt to create a speculative boom in Michigan recreation property. I do know that this attempt is bung inspired and engineer by Michigan people and not by outsiders. Of course if it succeeds all sorts of undesirable speculators will come in from outside. I am sorry to see that.
I bought some land in Michigan several years ago. that same year many other Chicago people bought land in the same neighborhood and a local woman remarked to Mrs. Felt that "the crop of Chicago suckers was very good this year." It took me a couple of years to get Mrs. Felt in the frame of mind where she could enjoy a sojourn in Michigan.
If the Riviera of the central states is ever developed so as to become nationally promoted, as it should it will be done by outsiders, as they will spend their money for development and are much more liberal with the public than the local people, but they are meeting with discourtesy and discouragement on every hand.
I, myself, built several miles of private surfaced road to enable people to drive auto-mobiles to the beach and let the public in freely; where before there had been no such road for miles in either direction, yet when the paper began to acclaim a certain supreme court decision as taking the riparian rights away from shore owners, some of those very same people called my attention to it with glee. Some of them had not been to the shore for 20 years until I made it available.
In the long run money spend in advertising is wasted if not supported by a spirit of respectful hospitality, genuine good service and fair dealing.
Chicago, III.
D.E. FeltContext
This clipping was found in a scrapbook kept by Saugatuck historian May Francis Heath so it is uncertain which paper it was from, although was originally published in the Grand Rapids Press in answer to some comment in their columns.
D. E. Felt of Chicago in 1919 bought a piece of property in Laketown Township north of Saugatuck, and in 1928 built a large mansion on the property. The [Felt] estate was known for its gardens and collection of animals.
In the 1960's a Catholic high school was built on the property and the mansion was used as a convent for an order of cloistered nuns which supported themselves by baking for the school and doing fine embroidery.
When the high school building was turned into a state prison the mansion became a state police post.
This spring [c2012] a group of area residents, with the assistance of Laketown Township which owns the property, have begun to restore the mansion.Collection
SDHS NL Inserts, Development, resistance toCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2023.50Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionNotes
SDHS Newsletter insert pagesLocation
* Untyped Location
Digital data in CatalogItRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Felt Estate Historic Home and Garden, Felt, Dorr Eugene 1862-1930General Notes
Note
This information was OCR text scanned from SDHS newsletter supplements. Binders of original paper copies are in the SDHC reference library.Create Date
January 2, 2024Update Date
July 19, 2025