“Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo” by Patrick Livingston (Bicknell Lecture Series: 2010-2011)

Join author Patrick Livingston for a look at the history of Bob-Lo Island in this presentation for the Dr. Frank Bicknell Lecture Series. Located twenty miles south of Detroit where the Detroit River meets Lake Erie, Bob-lo Island was the ultimate summer playground for families from Detroit and Windsor for nearly one hundred years. In its heyday, the island housed an amusement park with one of the world’s largest dance halls, an elegant restaurant, and a hand-carved carousel. It also employed two large Frank Kirby–designed ferry steamers—complete with dancing and other entertainment—to transport patrons to and from the island, which was not accessible by car. In Summer Dreams, author Patrick Livingston tells the story of Bob-lo from its discovery by French explorers to its subsequent use by missionaries, British military men, escaped slaves, farmers, and finally the wealthy class, who developed the island as a summer resort.

It was not until the Detroit, Belle Isle, and Windsor Ferry Company, looking to expand its business ventures, bought the island in 1898 that Bob-lo became known as a destination for Detroit’s burgeoning middle class. The park provided the perfect place for Detroiters to dance and play and simply escape the whirlwind of what was rapidly becoming an industrial and mechanized city. Livingston notes that operation of the park presented special challenges to management teams over the course of the century, particularly in the running of its U.S.–based steamers and competition with modern amusement parks that could be reached by car. Livingston chronicles the island’s recent history, including the final closure of the park in 1993, the auctioning of its steamers and rides, and its redevelopment as a community of multimillion-dollar homes.

Patrick Livingston is the author of “Eight Steamboats” (Wayne State University Press, 2004) and a former agent with Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Sea Grant. He is currently involved with the Great Lakes Education Program on the Detroit River and a project linking teachers from Nepal and Michigan in water-quality analysis and information sharing. His book, “Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo,” is published by Wayne State University Press and can be purchased here: https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/summer-dreams.

About the Bicknell Lecture Series:
In 1987, Dr. Frank Bicknell, a long time Grosse Pointe resident and well-known Detroit Medical Center urologist, celebrated his 80th birthday. His daughter and son-in-law established the Grosse Pointe Historical Society's Bicknell Fund to mark his milestone birthday. This fund established the Dr. Frank Bicknell Lecture Series; all Bicknell Lectures are free of charge and open to everyone.

Видео “Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo” by Patrick Livingston (Bicknell Lecture Series: 2010-2011) канала Grosse Pointe Historical Society