Name/Title
East Shore Skating Rink - digitalEntry/Object ID
2023.10.79Description
A long building with with a simple roof that is curved at its apex, two high arched doorways and a open porch that runs parallel to the river bank.
Painted on the building are offers for "Postal cards over 100 different views of Saugatuck and vicinity, cigars, tobacco, cigarettes, and ice cream cones."
The east-side chain ferry landing is visible on the left.
The building served as:
Goodrich Transit Co. warehouse 1920s-30s
East Shore Pavilion Skating Rink 1909-1920s
Riverside Pavilion Skating Rink 1910s
Built as a dance hall in 1909 but once superseded by Big Pavilion became a roller skating rink with a soda fountain, then a warehouse for the Goodrich Transit Company cargo. Unheated but possessing a fine wood floor it was the court for the Saugatuck Basketball team in 1924-25 season.
Located just upriver of the ferry crossing on the east side of the river, the Skating Rink is now Wicks Park.
Note: People also skated at the Big Pavilion in the off season so references to skating could have happened at either location.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
Digital scanSubject Person or Organization
Goodrich Transit Co. warehouse/East Shore Pavilion Skating Rink/Brittian Boatyard, Wicks Park/Anchor Park/site after 1937Context
These images were gathered for use in the SDHC publication "The Big Pavilion, The Brightest Spot on the Great Lakes" by Kit Lane, 2009
This image was featured as History Mystery #89 with the solution: The east side Pavilion, next to the ferry landing, was completed in the face of the Big Pavilion competition in 1909. During its twenty year life, It was a dance hall, skating rink, high school basketball court, and steamer terminal. The site is Wicks Park todayCollection
Commercial businesses, 1880 Tourism steamship era -1930Cataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2023.10Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionLocation
* Untyped Location
Digital data in CatalogItGeneral Notes
Note
These image(s) were copied from the SDHC photo blog [or the Jack Sheridan drive if that was a superior version] in preparation for updating the SDHC website in 2023. The location of an original or printed version of these photos was unknown at the time of cataloging.Create Date
May 21, 2023Update Date
May 25, 2025
![BothPavilionsScene.jpg 455KB: Two Pavilions 1915, The East Shore Pavilion opened a month before the Big Pavilion in 1909, but it was rapidly eclipsed once the larger building was ready. In this picture, taken around 1915, the Big Pavilion is visible in the right background. [Caption from Lane's book, page 9]](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/84b23180-f80c-11ed-844f-118df79da6c4-vUU15Qr.lg@2x.jpg)
