DESCRIPTION: Mid twentieth century blueprint pictorial map of Gull Lake in Kalamazoo and Barry Counties, Michigan, 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 as a regional leisure destination. The artist, Dr. Maynard Conrad (d. 1998) 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 northwest, 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 map of Gull Lake in Barry County, Michigan was likely produced during the mid twentieth century, a period when the lake had fully matured into a postwar recreation and resort district. The appearance of Prairieville Township Park, Wildwood Park, and the Bunbury Inn reflects the surge of mid-century lakeside development that followed World War II, when public parks, cottage subdivisions, and privately operated lodges reshaped the shoreline. The presence of the W. K. Kellogg estate, together with tourist-oriented labels such as Old Mill Dam and the canal named Interlochen, indicates a cartographic style aimed at vacationers rather than early resort settlers. These decorative labels, combined with simplified shoreline parcels and informal lettering, are characteristic of the 1950s to 1960s era of local souvenir mapping.
Dating is further supported by the features the map includes rather than omits. The naming of the small waterway as Interlochen is a convention not found on prewar surveys, appearing instead on mid-century promotional maps that borrowed the well-known northern Michigan name to lend a resort identity to the lake connection. Likewise, the depiction of township parks and mid-century lodging points to a creation date well after the interurban era and after the first wave of 1920s resort expansion. Taken together, the mix of postwar recreational facilities, mid-century place names, and the absence of later large-scale golf developments places the map securely within a production window centered on the late 1950s to mid 1960s.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1955
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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