Michiana-Grand Beach Harbor Country Located by Beautiful Lake Michigan Warren Dunes State Park Pictured

Harbor Country Attractions

Harbor Country Website

New Buffalo, Harbor Country

Union Pier, Harbor Country

Three Oaks, Harbor Country

Lakeside, Harbor Country

Harbart-Sawyer, Harbor Country

The Story of Michiana - Grand Beach

Unlike nearby Harbor Country communities, Michiana and Grand Beach were solely founded as resort communities.  The Long Beach Development Company began subdividing and building Michiana in the 1920s.

A famous Michiana landmark was a Signal Oak at the corner of Michiana and Powhattan Drives.  Early surveyors marked the tree's trunk to signal the Indiana-Michigan state line.  The area that is now Michiana (Michigan side) and Michiana Shores (Indiana side) was originally called "Michigan Shores".

Stately white gates have welcomed visitors to Grand Beach since the early 1900s.  The community's golf course dates to 1911 and was a huge attraction for Chicagoans who arrived three times a day on the Michigan Central Railroad.  Frank Lloyd Wright built homes in Grand Beach, but the villages most famous architectural offering was the 175 room Golfmore Hotel.  Opened in 1921, the Golfmore offered concerts, movies and a huge, at least for the Midwest, ski jump located on a dune behind the hotel.  But the Golfmore was destroyed in 1939 by a fire.

The current Tall Oaks Inn was once The Pinewood Lodge and served as the training camp for James Braddock as he prepared for his prize fight with Joe Louis.  Perhaps the most famous visitors to Grand Beach, however, are author Father Andrew Greeley and the Mayors Daley of Chicago who have maintained a summer home in the village for decades.

Historical information courtesy of the Harbor Country Chamber of Commerce.

Send mail to HomeTownValue.com with questions or comments about this web site. 

Copyright 2001- 2008, HomeTownValue.com, J. Stover