ASYLUM LAKE: A FASCINATING HISTORY
1830-1839
1830-1839: Settlers purchase land in the area. Among them is Enoch Harris, the area's first black settler. They arrive on this "Genessee Prairie" from Ohio in 1830, bringing seeds which it is said were used to plant the first apple orchard in Kalamazoo County. Harris is so respected that his neighbors often ask him to mediate property disputes, which must have been numerous and complicated in those early days. The Harrises are buried in Genessee Prairie Cemetery, at Parkview Ave and 11th St., where there is a them is Enoch Harris, the area's first black settler. They arrive on this "Genessee Prairie" from Ohio in 1830, bringing seeds which it is said were used to plant the first apple orchard in Kalamazoo County. Harris is so respected that his neighbors often ask him to mediate property disputes, which must have been numerous and complicated in those early days. The Harrises are buried in Genessee Prairie Cemetery, at Parkview Ave and 11th St., where there is a historical marker dedicated to them.
Where was the lake? Early maps show only a small pond-like body of water on the site that is now Asylum Lake. It is believed a horse-drawn scoop, like this one, carved dirt out of a nearby hillside to make the earthen berm we see today, thus making the lake the size we know now.
1887-1959
1887-The State Legislature purchases 357 acres for an addition to the "Michigan Asylum for the Insane." At this point, the lake, which had been previously named after the settlers who owned the land, becomes known as "Asylum Lake."
The Colony Farm operation: 1887-1959: This was what we might think of as the "agricultural and campus" phase of the land, as it becomes part of the farming operation run by the hospital and the campus of the hospital itself. It is called the Colony Farm. (What is now Drake Road was called Colony Farm Road, and the Asylum’s presence was reflected in the original name of Oakland Drive, Asylum Ave.)
Patients who are able to do farm work cultivate the land, tend the cows and pigs, and raise food for the patients and for the animals. Besides providing food, which makes the hospital self-sustaining, farming has therapeutic value for the patients who are given meaningful work and fresh air, the only "medications" available to them.
By the 1950’s, the hospital’s annual report states that it owns approximately 1,388 acres of land, a majority of which is dedicated to agricultural activities.
"Cottages," really large houses, are built, three of them along the south ridge of the lake, as is a home for the resident director. Though these cottages look elegant, they are, sadly enough, overcrowded from the beginning. Patients suffer from influenza epidemics, tensions in relationships, and other difficulties from this overcrowding.
1910: The tunnels: An interesting feature of the hospital campus is the tunnels which connect some of the buildings to the newly constructed Rich Cottage.
“During the stormy days of winter” says the Gazette, “or inclement weather in the summer, patients will not be compelled to buffet with the elements in going from the cottages to the dining room.”
“(It is) illuminated with electric lights and the patients are protected from wintry winds and snow in their passage from the cottages to the dining room.”
Rich Cottage provided house-keeping services, heating utilities, nurses’ sleeping quarters, a large kitchen and generalized dining services.
The opening of the new building is celebrated with a dance to which all the employees are invited, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette of October 19, 1910.
ASYLUM LAKE: A FASCINATING HISTORY
1959-1971
Farm operations end, land is sold off, patient population shrinks: As the cost of growing food and raising animals becomes greater than buying it, and as new medications shorten hospital stays, the population and the farming operations decline. The piggery closes in the mid-50's as it is polluting the lake and the water table, and creating health concerns as housing development was expanding westerly toward the farm.
Adding to the cost of the farm operation is the fact that many of the new patients are former WWII soldiers who are inexperienced in working farms and operating farm machinery.
As Dr. Clarence Schreier, the head of the hospital, says in 1955, "the majority of our patients now are city-bred, and not only know nothing about farming but look with great distaste on this form of activity ... years ago much of the farm work was manual, or by horse, but now tractors and machines do the work ... the cost of farm operations has risen ... while the therapeutic value of the farms has decreased."
In psychiatric hospitals across the state and the nation, fresh air and manual labor are replaced by new medications and community placement programs.
In 1957 the legislature passes a resolution ending farming operations throughout the state. The cottages are emptied and eventually demolished by 1971.
The Asylum Lake Property is declared surplus to the institution’s needs.
1973-1990s
1973-1990s: The land begins to return to a "natural state." As the cottages are demolished, the underground tunnels remain. They serve one useful purpose--as a practice area for the local police SWAT team. But they are a serious safety hazard, and are eventually blown up and filled in, so that only hidden traces of them remain.
The land as a desirable commodity: During this period, the land, returning to its "natural" state, is an appealing target for many developers, and many initiatives for its use are proposed during this era.
They include:
• a Planned Housing Development with 1500 units
• an armory
• a children’s psychiatric hospital;
• an industrial park
• a golf course
• a city park with a boat launch, shelter, bathroom facilities.
As the legislation is finally passed, an interesting discussion goes on about the name of the area.
Though some suggest calling it "Fair Oaks," Rep. Welborn prevails when he says that it should remain "The Asylum Lake Preserve," because "due consideration (should) be given to the past history of the surrounding area,"...even though perhaps "many of us are ashamed of the past when the Kalamazoo State Hospital was an insane asylum."
1990: Asylum Lake Preservation Association forms: In response to proposals to use some of the property for an industrial park, residents from throughout the region form the Association and lobby against having the natural state of the area so radically changed.
Intense and sometimes bitter debate goes on for several years around the issues of having the land which was originally conveyed as open public space now being used in a different way. Finally, an agreement is reached whereby WMU would use the land south of Parkview for a research and business park, and the land north of Parkview would be preserved to "promote ecosystem integrity and natural aesthetics, ensure passive recreation, support research and education."
Dr. Elson Floyd, president of WMU, and the City of Kalamazoo also establishes a fund at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation that yields an annual income to preserve and maintain the natural area. Expenditure of this money is determined by the Asylum Lake Preserve Management Council, which has members from the University, the surrounding neighborhood associations and the Asylum Lake Preservation Association.
How did the Preserve come to be?
You’ve read the long and fascinating history of the land we now call the Preserve. But the land would not be the sanctuary it is now without the efforts of many people in the community, who lobbied for the area at a time, in the early 1990’s, when many people thought it should be developed.
That is when the Asylum Lake Preservation Association (ALPA) and the Asylum Lake Preserve Management Council (ALPMC) came into existence. ALPA has continued to be a community-based advocacy group for the Preserve, holding community gatherings, publishing newsletters like this, helping to put dog waste bags and pamphlet stations in the Preserve, and informing the community about issues with a Facebook page and a Web page.
The Management Council has charge of the moneys from the Community Foundation Fund and decides on expenditures for the upkeep and protection of the Preserve. It consists of seven University members and six Community Representatives from local groups like ALPA, the Environmental Council, the Environmental Concerns Advisory Committee to the Kalamazoo City Commission, and neighborhood associations located near the Preserve.
When you enter the preserve at the Parkview entrance, you'll notice a large stone at the beginning of the paths. This is a memorial to the people who made the Preserve possible as a quiet natural haven for the Kalamazoo area. Beginning in the early nineties, a group of citizens mobilized the community to keep the Preserve from being developed so that the whole community could enjoy it as a haven of calm nature.
At the base of the stone is a tribute plaque funded by ALPA and placed by David Nesius to commemorate two of those people, Renay and Montford Piercey. It acknowledges the value we place on the energy and dedication of the Pierceys’ and those like them have made to the community.
ALPA members at tribute plaque that commemorates Renay and Monford Pierceyf or their energy and dedication on behalf of the Preserve.
Left to right: Lauri Holmes, Donna Tellam, Tom Holmes, Mark Hoffman, David Nesius, Cal Mastin, and Mary Sue Hoffman.