Swim - Swim - Swim off Poplar Beach Park
Fun in the park: boating, fishing, family gatherings, dancing, swinging on the double glider swing set, bike riding, ice boating.
In the early years, there were Poplar trees in the park. Later there were several huge willow trees that survived until the late 80s.
Below: Swim - Swim - Swim (from the collection of Patrick Ryan).
An early view at the boat launch. There are still remnants of the metal bars on the right pier.
Below: The metal ring at the lakeside end of the left pier is still there after nearly 100 years.
The park had a sidewalk running down the center through the Poplar trees to the lake. A double glider swing can be seen in the right background.
Below: cooling off in the lake at the boat ramp.
The beach house at the top of the boat launch had 6 numbered doors, marked 1-3 for Ladies and 3-6 for Men. The current soil level is at the top of the cement piers. The sidewalk is probably still there - but more than a foot below grade.
Below: This summer evening view with children (probably Elaine and John J. "Jack" Ryan) on the central sidewalk also has a glimpse of the beach house at the boat launch.
A later picture below shows them again in the park with probably Herman Schweim in the background. In the far background is a curious structure: a very long breakwall with metal fencing on top that reaches far out into the lake. (click image for full size view)
A view looking north along the lake side shows a much lower park elevation than today. The current walkway was added on top of the seawall. What should be water in the lake looks like sand in this view, which may be from the 1930s. Record low water in 1934 was more than three feet below average.
There was a dance floor near the beach house (below). This image looks south toward Gordon Switch street.
At the boat launch. The pipe railing that appears in other photos is missing. Perhaps this is an earlier photo. The woman at left may be Hortense Schweim-Lakey.
Family gatherings in the park. The house in the right background is 22863. There is a glimpse of the porch at 22858 at the left background.
Seawall reconstruction in a series of photos dated June 10, 1983.
"The point" - visible in the center background - had two large willow trees for many years. High water and storms in 2020 and 2021 have washed away the soil and scattered the riprap.
In this image from 2005, low water levels and a great deal of shoveling revealed the cement launch ramp that is again buried under several feet of sand.
Below: a photo from 2005 at the south end of the park where the beach house was.
Another view from 2009.
And finally, iceboating. The DN (Detroit News) class iceboat is the most popular in the world. According to Pat Ryan, they were popular on Poplar Beach too. The boats were light weight, easily disassembled and stored in the rafters of the pump house. The DN International page has some great videos. The boat below is not a DN, which dates from after 1936.
