Highland Park Association / Highland Park Association

On May 10, 1886, the city of Grand Haven leased sixty acres of land to the newly founded and incorporated Highland Park Association for the purpose of establishing a resort community. Most of the fifty-one original members of the association were prominent local businessmen; however, in its first century of maintaining the park, the association expanded to include cottage owners from across North America. Their cottages are nestled on Nipissing Age dunes and among hardwood forests characteristic of the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. By 1923 the Highland Park Association consisted of over one hundred cottages, miles of boardwalk, and a hotel. The boardwalks, many of which remain, provide access to the dunes while protecting them. At the park’s centennial there were ninety-eight cottages, but the once stately hotel was destroyed by fire in 1967. This unique environment is a climax dune habitat with a variety of wildflowers, small animals, and migratory birds. The biological and geological landscape of Highland Park provides a recreational and educational resource for all visitors.