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Posts Tagged ‘Kalamazoo area lakes’

The Richard DeKorn House

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Photography late 19th century, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2014| 30 Comments »

Richard DeKorn’s house is still standing, at the corner of Burdick and Balch Streets in Kalamazoo. Someone lives there, but the house needs some TLC, in my opinion. I wonder if the owner knows who built the house–or is interested. I love the distinctive light brick stripes on the dark brown brick. The house was most likely built in the 1880s. I would love to know the exact year.

Although the basic house hasn’t changed, the property has. In the old photographs, the house looks set back from the street. The house number is now different.

It looks like a barn to the left, doesn’t it? Notice that the above photo is the same view as the first photo. Is that a fire hydrant in the same spot? Did they have fire hydrants in those days? Or is it something else?

Here is a photo of the area where the barn was. I wonder if the garage has the same footprint as the barn. And you can see the house that is next door. How old do you think the gray house is?

In the following photograph, Richard DeKorn stands by the house he built.

Richard DeKorn's home at the corner of Burdick and Balch, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Richard DeKorn’s home at the corner of Burdick and Balch, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Here is another angle of the house today:

 

In the above photo, the right side (two windows in 2nd story, 1st floor, and basement) faces Burdick Street. The left side (two windows 2nd story and three windows on the 1st floor and basement) faces Balch Street. In the old photo, where is Richard standing? Is he at the opposite corner from the Burdick-Balch corner–at the back of the house?

Here’s a view from the opposite side of Balch. I think it shows that Richard has his back to Balch Street in the old photo.

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Ramona Palace, View from the Lake

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2014| 12 Comments »

In a previous post called What Went On at Ramona Palace, the photograph that was marked Ramona that actually was the Summer Home Place sparked the question if the Ramona pavilion had windows on the lake side. By the sixties, when I saw it, the lake windows either didn’t exist or had been blocked off behind the bandstand.

The other day my father found a postcard of the Ramona pavilion–a view from the lake. Clearly, the structure was built with windows facing the lake.

 

On the left side of this photograph are the windows at the end of the building that face the lake. The bandstand was just inside those windows. And see the steps leading down to the lake? They would lead you right into the . . . bottomless drop-off! That was such a scary part of the lake by the sixties! I imagined all kinds of underwater beasts living in that mysterious section of the lake.

The property was originally owned by Henry and Carrie (Paak) Waruf. Carrie was my great-great-grandmother’s sister.  What do you think is the material of his hat in this photo?

This is a photograph marked “Hank Waruf (cigar in mouth). He’s definitely much older in this photo than the one above.

More posts about Ramona:

The Park with a Literary Name
A Re-telling of Ramona: The Park with a Literary Name
What Went On at Ramona Palace

 

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More Ramona, Long Lake

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2014| 11 Comments »

When my father ran Ramona Park, he used to sit on a ticket taker stool to admit dance patrons. He still had the stool until recently.

 

The other day, he gave it to Paula Taylor, who is writing a history of Ramona and Long Lake.

 

 

 

Update on why the Ramona/Long Lake photos say Vicksburg:

Maggie Snyder for Vicksburg Historical Society says this:

Vicksburg never included Ramona Park, which was at Long Lake. However, at that time Portage as a town was much smaller than Vicksburg, so it would have been the closest “big” town. Also, the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad had a flag stop at Ramona Park, and their closest depot was in Vicksburg.

On another note: here are a couple of online articles about Long Lake:

Long Lake: from sinking houses to sea serpents

Portage Couple Has Spent a Lifetime on Long Lake

 

More posts about Ramona:

The Park with a Literary Name
A Re-telling of Ramona: The Park with a Literary Name

 

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What Went On at Ramona Palace

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2014| 27 Comments »

When I was a kid my father used to bring me (and sometimes my friend, Jill, a reader of this blog) to Ramona Park. We explored and played while he worked–maintaining and refurbishing the pavilion, the grounds, and the shore of Long Lake that ran along the property.

I’ve written before about this park, located in Portage, Michigan here:

The Park with a Literary Name
A Re-telling of Ramona: The Park with a Literary Name

I remember trying to imagine what the pavilion, which was called Ramona Palace, was like back in its heyday, when people came to listen to live music and dance in the ballroom.

Notice that this old photograph locates the park in Vicksburg, but it is now Portage, Michigan. This is the ballroom as I remember it–big and empty.  The lake was just outside those windows.

A while back I was contacted by Shawna (Smith) Raymond about those days. Her grandfather, Eddie Smith, and his Big Band used to play at Ramona Palace.

Eddie Smith and the Revelers courtesy of Shawna (Smith) Raymond

Eddie Smith and the Revelers
courtesy of Shawna (Smith) Raymond

Shawna passed on a story from her aunt about those days.

When Mom, whose name was Margene, would walk into the Ramona Palace ballroom where Dad was playing, he’d always stop whatever song they were playing and play ‘My Little Margie.’

Shawna’s aunt has a framed collage of the sheet music to “My Little Margie” and Shawna’s grandfather’s conducting baton. According to Wikipedia:

“Margie“, also known as “My Little Margie“, is a 1920 popular song composed in collaboration by vaudeville performer and pianist Con Conrad and ragtime pianist J. Russel Robinson, a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Lyrics were written by Benny Davis, a vaudeville performer and songwriter. The song was introduced by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1920 as Victor 78, 18717-A, in a medley paired with “Singin’ the Blues”. The B side was “Palesteena”.The Rega Dance Orchestra recorded the song in October, 1920 for Okeh Records, 4211. The ODJB recorded their instrumental version on December 1, 1920. The song was published in 1920 and was named after the five-year-old daughter of singer and songwriter Eddie Cantor. Cantor is credited with popularizing the song with his 1921 recording that stayed at the top of the pop charts for five weeks.

Here is a Benny Goodman version from 1938:

 

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A Re-telling of Ramona: The Park with a Literary Name

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Remine, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2014| 14 Comments »

Last year, I published a post about a park that once belonged to family members and that had an inpact on me when I was growing up. Ramona Park, on Long Lake, outside of Kalamazoo, Michigan, featured a pavilion called Ramona Palace.  Ramona was named after the “Indian Princess” in Helen Hunt Jackson’s popular novel Ramona, which was published in 1884.

When I was growing up, the property was owned by a relative named Therese Remine.  Therese’s mother was Mary Paak (Peek), the sister of my great great grandmother, Alice Paak DeKorn.

Therese had inherited the property from Henry and Carrie Waruf, who had owned it for years.

Here are some photos of the pavilion and property that I inherited from the Waruf/Remine family:

Although these photos were taken before my time, not that much had changed by the time I hung out there–except that things had slowed down considerably. There were fewer picnic tables and fewer people.

You see that long dock in the 3rd photo? It’s so long it needs to be called a pier, I think! I don’t remember that either.

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The Park with a Literary Name

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Paak, Remine, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2013| 23 Comments »

The property at Long Lake in Portage, Michigan, known as Ramona Park and featuring a pavilion called Ramona Palace was in my family for many years.  Ramona was named after the “Indian Princess” in Helen Hunt Jackson’s popular novel Ramona, which was published in 1884.

When I was a little girl, my father Rudy Hanson tried to re-create the heyday of Ramona Park and its pavilion.  He was  young and ambitious and wanted to restore the place.  Although Ramona Palace had a magnificent ballroom, the owner had sold the liquor license in 1956 or 1957 to Airway Lanes (according to my father).

So my parents held teen dances and concerts; The Association performed there. I remember my parents taking tickets out front, seated at a table.  One time a kid broke in when a dance was going on.  Dad took off running after this high school “track star,” caught him, and turned him over to the police.  It was mentioned in the paper.

My father preferred booking picnics because he could obtain a one day liquor license.  Continental Can held their company picnics at Ramona.  Sometimes I helped out or hung out during events.  The German-American Club held a dance, and I remember a couple dressed in lederhosen, the girl’s thick blonde braid swinging to her dancing.

My father had invested in this property and lost money on the deal.  It was actually owned by a relative named Therese Remine.  Therese’s mother was Mary Paak (Peek), the sister of my great great grandmother, Alice Paak DeKorn.

Therese had inherited the property from Henry and Carrie Waruf, who had owned it for years.  Carrie was born a Paak, and I believe she was one of the Paak sisters: Mary, Alice, Annie, and Carrie.  This is an area for future research.  I don’t know why only Therese inherited and not her brother, Harold.  Or why the cousins, such as my grandfather Adrian Zuidweg, did not inherit it.

Therese Remine

Therese Remine

At some point after my father no longer was affiliated with the property, Therese sold and donated it to the City of Portage.

My father has many other memories of the park.  He says Ramona was used as storage for years for ice, which was cut from the lake and packed with straw.  It lasted throughout the summer and was hauled to town by a train.  The tracks ran halfway between the pavilion and Sprinkle Road.

In that front lot off Sprinkle, in the 10s and 20s, was a building and home field for various ball teams.  Later on, Airstream trailers held their annual meetings.  The circus was set up on the Ramona property; I remember the circus billboard which was up for weeks ahead of time.

When I was young, a row of cottages on the property were leased out to renters by Therese.  Sixty years before that, Richard DeKorn, my great great grandfather, had leased his own summer cottage from the Warufs.

Therese’s summer house was on Sprinkle, and a gravel road led back to the park, pavilion, and the lakefront.  My friends and I found arrowheads in the cornfield behind her house.

Ramona Park is a thriving park in Portage, Michigan, still today.

Possibly Long Lake, according to Adrian Zuidweg

Cora DeKorn at her father Richard DeKorn's cottage on Long Lake

Cora DeKorn at her father Richard DeKorn’s cottage on Long Lake

Richard DeKorn enjoying the lake

Richard DeKorn enjoying the lake

 

 

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