Hillsdale's Parks

The low land across from the Mill had long been owned by Robert B. Sutton and rented to F.W. Stock for grazing his horses. After Sutton’s death, Stock purchased the property and his wife, Wilhelmina transformed the land into a park, working through her grief over the death of three of her children. At left, from the front appears daughter-in-law Madge Boutwell Stock and friends at the park, with the old Mill across the street.

The land that later became Cold Spring Park had also been owned and cultivated for many years by R. B. Sutton. It was reported that Sutton had water pumped from the springs to his home on Howell Street, long before City water was a reality.

The Rearing Ponds was the place for Hillsdale College informal events during the 1930s, 40s and early 50s. Later dedicated as Lewis Emery Park, it remains a place of beauty today.

For many years a popular resort at Baw Beese Lake, this peninsula near the Hillsdale water works and electric plant later became Waterworks Park.

Carol A. Lackey