Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society

The Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society was formed in 1986 by a group of seventy members. The purpose of our Society is to discover, procure, and preserve whatever may relate to the civil, religious, social, cultural, and natural history of Saugatuck, Douglas, and the surrounding area. Members of the Society provide leadership, enabling the community to connect to and understand its past and use its history to shape its future and preserve its quality of life. We recognize how vital preservation of key resources is to our mission – historic, cultural, and natural. There may be no other piece of land that holds so many of our shared stories than the former Denison dune area, including the lost village of Singapore and its surrounding properties – Fish Town, the Saugatuck Lighthouse, Ox-Bow School of Art, Oval Beach, and the last remaining undeveloped river mouth on Lake Michigan.

This is an increasingly rare landscape that also provides sanctuary to our community from the advancing over-built world.

The Board of the Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society and our over six hundred and eighty active members support the mission and goals of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance, especially their first priority to protect and preserve the former Denison property and adjacent open spaces.

The Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society encourages the McClendon’s to work with the Nature Conservancy, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, the City of Saugatuck, the State of Michigan, and the many individuals who have worked for over thirty years to acquire this stunning landscape and to keep it in the public trust.

For the Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society Board,

Peg Sanford
Vice President