Glen Arbor Township in Leelanau County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
D.H. Day's Million-Dollar Plan
Photographed by John Ridley, August 9, 2025
1. D.H. Day's Million-Dollar Plan Marker
Inscription.
D.H. Day's Million-Dollar Plan. . This picturesque view differs dramatically from what you would have seen were it not for the Great Depression. As lumbering declined in the 1900s, tourism began to boom. Travel writers called Glen Lake the "Switzerland of America." Not one to miss an opportunity, D.H. Day of Glen Haven began planning an exclusive resort on Alligator Hill in the 1920s (right). He built an 18-hole golf course and cleared land for an airstrip. There were to be tennis courts, bridle paths, a polo field, ski jump, toboggan slide, and more than 100 estates"ideally restricted." Two events altered that fate: Day passed away in 1928 and the stock market crashed a year later. Investors pulled their funding. By the 1940s, state residents and officials were imagining a new use for the land: not a playground for millionaires, but a park for us all.
This picturesque view differs dramatically from what you would have seen were it not for the Great Depression.
As lumbering declined in the 1900s, tourism began to boom. Travel writers called Glen Lake the "Switzerland of America." Not one to miss an opportunity, D.H. Day of Glen Haven began planning an exclusive resort on Alligator Hill in the 1920s (right). He built an 18-hole golf course and cleared land for an airstrip. There were to be tennis courts, bridle paths, a polo field, ski jump, toboggan slide, and more than 100 estates"ideally restricted."
Two events altered that fate: Day passed away in 1928 and the stock market crashed a year later. Investors pulled their funding. By the 1940s, state residents and officials were imagining a new use for the land: not a playground for millionaires, but a park for us all.
Location. 44° 52.089′ N, 86° 2.828′ W. Marker is in Glen Arbor, Michigan, in Leelanau County. It is in Glen Arbor Township.
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It is on Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, on the right when traveling north. This marker is at a pull-off on the scenic drive through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Admission or a park pass is required for entry. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Glen Arbor MI 49636, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Northern Michigan Lower Peninsula, in the Grand Traverse Bay Region, and in one of the Lake Michigan Shore counties. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 23, 2025, by John Ridley of Chelsea, Michigan. This page has been viewed 86 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on August 23, 2025, by John Ridley of Chelsea, Michigan. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
