Tulip City Dispatch

Prohibition is one of the most storied periods in American history. Urban myths and legends abound nationwide, with tales of folk heroes like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger. Tall tales are woven around organized crime, wild bootleggers, underground saloons, and well-dressed gangsters. There's something uniquely American about the DIY ethos of taking matters into your own hands, making illegal alcohol, and selling it through clandestine channels; stickin' it to the man like those in the illegal alcohol industry did. These stories are immortalized in movies like The Road To Perdition and Public Enemies, as well as TV series like HBO's Boardwalk Empire and, well, PBS's Prohibition. Many lakeshore towns in Western Michigan have tales of organized crime and bootlegging. Easy access to Lake Michigan meant that bootleggers had easy access to boat routes, safely out of reach of authorities. Booze was funneled in from Canada, then taken by boat to cities all aro...

I must sincerely apologize for not having any content for this week.  I strive to get new posts up every Wednesday on the site, then I'll use Instagram throughout the week for small things that pop up, and I'll use Twitter to communicate and interact with journalists and other community members in Holland. The reason I haven't gotten a new article up this week is simple:  I didn't have time to put in any research.  I've still got a backlog of topics to cover, but I simply ran out of time.  It came to my attention that this blog had minimal presence on Google and other search engines - that just won't do.  So, most of my efforts over the past seven days have been aimed at increasing my online presence.  I know for a fact that I've had success getting the site itself indexed by Google, which is cool, and I think I've got some things in the works with Google itself...This whole thing is brand new to me, and I have no idea how to operate SEO and web presen...

No, not the town south of Holland.  On February 5, 2020, I had the opportunity to see the play Hamilton in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the DeVos Performance Hall. Despite having been a theatre geek in high school, I really only saw one theatrical production in college and have been away from the thespian arts for over a decade. Hamilton was a fantastic way to get back into things! I'd done enough pre-reading on Hamilton to know that they recommend listening to the soundtrack and reading the story to prepare yourself for the on-stage experience. But, knowing that, I deliberately did not take that course of action – I wanted to go in having no preconceived notions about the show. I wanted to experience it in isolation. I'm sure there were details and small things that I missed, but that happens with every form of media. I don't feel like I limited myself to the show by avoiding the preparations, and I am wholly satisfied in my actions. I thought it was a bit ...

The Melonheads of Saugatuck Dunes are a truly unique bit of local lore and urban legend. While most urban legends have a grain of truth in them, my research into the Melonheads has turned up many dead-ends and false leads. Here's what we know for sure: Felt Mansion was built by Dorr E. Felt, a wealthy businessman from Chicago, situated on Shore Acres Farm (present location of Saugatuck Dunes State Park). Within a few days of being completed in 1928, Agnes Felt passed away. Within a year and a half, Dorr Felt himself passed away, in 1930. This is all freely available information from Allegan County. In 1949, the estate was sold by the family to the Archdiocese of Chicago and was used as a seminary, called Saint Augustine Seminary. By 1962, cloistered nuns moved in, and a boarding school was established. This is all verifiable by Archdiocese of Chicago records, and by yearbooks, available at Herrick District Library in Holland. The Seminary was closed and the property was sold t...