DESCRIPTION: Early twentieth century pictorial map of Gull Lake in Barry County, Michigan, rendered in blueprint form with hand-drawn shorelines, compass rose, and whimsical period lettering. The sheet captures the resorts, parks, beaches, and cottages that once ringed this deep spring-fed lake north of Kalamazoo, documenting the area during its formative decades as a regional leisure destination. The artist uses simple white linework on blue background to present an engaging portrait of the lake at a time when summer colonies, canoe clubs, and motor launches were beginning to reshape the shoreline.
The map highlights a tight cluster of neighboring lakes that define the Gull Lake region. Little Long Lake and Miller's Lake appear to the southwest, while Grassy Lake is shown just beyond the isthmus that separates Gull Lake from its smaller companions. These lakes form part of a distinctive kettle-lake chain created by the region's glacial geography, a landscape that helped establish Gull Lake as one of the most celebrated inland waters of southwest Michigan. The sheet also notes well known features of the day, including Idlewild, Ross Township Park, Island Park, Crescent Beach, the Country Club grounds, and the string of cottages along Lover's Lane.
This pictorial blueprint serves equally as a regional souvenir and a record of community identity around Gull Lake. Resorts such as Bayberry Inn, Hickory Point, and Walnut Inn, together with family parks, bird sanctuaries, and boat landings, illustrate a thriving recreational culture. Surviving large format blueprints of local lakeside development are scarce, and this example offers collectors an attractive combination of graphic charm, local history, and early twentieth century Michigan cartographic style.
This pictorial blueprint map of Gull Lake in Barry County, Michigan was likely produced in the late 1920s or early 1930s, a period when the lake region was flourishing as a summer resort district. The appearance of the Gull Lake Yacht and Country Club, together with well established inns, cottage colonies, beaches, and parks, reflects a fully developed recreational landscape characteristic of the interwar years. The decorative title, hand-drawn lettering, and ornamental compass rose all mirror the novelty mapping styles popular in the 1925 to 1935 era, when blueprint sheets were commonly sold as local souvenirs.
Dating is further supported by what the map omits. Although roads are shown, none carry the highway numbers adopted in Michigan beginning in 1926, suggesting a date just before or not long after the new system was introduced. The combination of blueprint technique, period resort names, and the absence of later automotive cartographic conventions together point to a production window centered on the late 1920s.
PUBLICATION DATE:
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Gull Lake, Grassy Lake, Little Long Lake
CONDITION: Good.
Top 20% slightly toned from rolling. A few chipped edges.
COLORING: Blueprint.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE:
" x
"
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION:
PRICE: $375
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