This summer’s hot weather got me thinking about all the things that Northvillians would do in the past to cool down. Our town, as you know by now, is the headwaters for many waterways leading into our Rouge River – there are three tributaries converging in the Ville (Johnson Creek, Randolph Creek and the Rouge system). We also have the only natural lake in Wayne County, Curtis Lake (also once called Silver Springs Lake/Yerkes Lake). And, being the highest point in the county, the water runs down river, dropping hundreds of feet to the Detroit River into the Great Lakes.

In the four historic sections of town, opportunities to cool down or enjoy the water were:

Orchard Heights
• Beginning in the 1870s, Northvillians in the Orchard Heights area would go to the Northville Fish Hatchery to swim in one of their many ponds.
• At the end of Eaton Drive at Seven Mile, there was an additional pond where Joe Denton Park is today. This spring-fed pond once connected to the city’s water supply.

Cabbagetown
• Locals cooled down in the Mill Pond created by the dammed-up Rouge River (Northville was one of the first milling areas in Michigan, then it transitioned to the industrial revolution. Today, we are reinventing ourselves with a network of riverwalk pathways).
• Many folks had homes on the banks of the Rouge River that runs through Cabbagetown to keep cool in the summers and for the relaxation of running water.
• Lake Success on Griswold (a remnant of the gravel pit days) was a swimming spot, too.

Bealtown
• The Rouge River also runs through the Bealtown area (named after Mr. Beal, who owned the largest school and church furniture business in the world there). Last century, the river running through Northville Downs was entombed underground to provide more land for the Wayne County Fair at the Downs). Today, we are uncovering the river and constructing an adjacent pathway and greenspace on either side.
• Johnson Creek connects to the Rouge here. After WWII, Wayne County built what we would call today a “splash park” as you enter the parkway across from Custard Time. When I was a kid, there were still remnants.

Historic District
• The Randolph brook winds its way from Oakland County coming through this historic area, where a waterfall system at Ford Field exits it into the Rouge River. In the early 1960s, the Northville Swim Club took shape. Our family were charter members, and I have fond memories of cooling off there.
• Next door to the Swim Club at the old high school (Hillside School grounds), a modern indoor pool was built in the late 1960s, which offered swimming times for the public.

Glacier-made Pits
• Northvillians would also cool down at nearby gravel pits. Thousands of years ago, the glaciers “slowed down” ever so slightly, edging their way through Northville, leaving gravel deposits. Once dug out, these large craters would fill with spring water. I remember hearing stories from my father and grandparents about swimming in the Northville gravel pits. Today, we call one Blue Heron Pointe and the other is called Highland Lakes. The Taft Road area was home to an additional gravel pit.

Enjoy these areas where you can walk close to our flowing waterways at Fish Hatchery Park, Ford Field, Mill Race Village and Hines Drive.

Keep that Northville Faith, and enjoy the rivers and placemaking areas in town!