Saugatuck Pump House / Saugatuck Pump House

The village of Saugatuck built this structure in 1904 to house the community’s first water pumps. The building’s construction cost about $720. The pumps were part of a water system designed by John W. Alvord, an engineer from Chicago. The two gas-powered pumps brought water from seven wells up to a 100,000-gallon reservoir, located at the top of Lone Pine Dune, just north of Mt. Baldhead. Gravity fed the water through pipes under the Kalamazoo River to Saugatuck’s buildings and fire hydrants. In 1912 the Pump House was doubled in size to make room for the village’s first electric power station. By the 1930s, the pumps and power station could no longer keep up with demand, and the village built new facilities elsewhere. The building was vacant until 1972 when it was converted into a summer cottage that Dr. William Shorey and his family rented. In 1992 the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society began using it as a museum. The Pump House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.