Tom Kirvan
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor, I am always astonished when other Michiganders look lost when mention is made of the Irish Hills, the nearby area that includes such towns as “Brooklyn” and “Napoleon,” two names with few if any links to the Emerald Isle.
As the label suggests, the Irish Hills was named after the wave of Irish immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century primarily because of the Great Potato Famine that devastated their homeland overseas. While many Irish came earlier due to economic hardship, the famine served as the catalyst for the largest influx of Irish into the United States.
Part of the appeal to settlers of the southern Michigan location, according to local historians, were the area’s rolling green hills and numerous kettle lakes that reminded them nostalgically of home. As a bonus for Irish settlers, the area also became a key stop on the early stagecoach route between Detroit and Chicago, providing opportunity for agriculture and small businesses to flourish.
After World War II, the area also became home to more than its share of quirky travel stops along U.S. 12, which at one point was the main artery between the Motor City and the Windy City. Among the roadside attractions was a “Prehistoric Forest” that featured a series of animatronic dinosaurs scattered throughout the park, along with a waterfall, a volcano, and a “Safari Train.” A “Mystery Hill” and the eye-catching “Irish Towers” were other traps for tourists.
Years later, after I-94 was fully built and became the main east-west thoroughfare through southern Michigan, the Irish Hills lost a bit of its allure for tourists, although it remained a summer hot spot for boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits.
One of which is visiting Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre feast for the eyes operated by Michigan State University near the tiny town of Tipton, some 70 miles south of MSU’s main campus.
Hidden Lake’s presence, like the Irish Hills itself, is equally mystifying to most Michiganders it would seem, as whenever I mention it as a must-see destination, more puzzled looks invariably appear.
The arboretum was donated by Adrian businessman Harry A. Fee to MSU in 1945 and forever will serve as his “dream as you go development.”
Fee, according to the “Brief History” of Hidden Lake Gardens provided by MSU, purchased the lake and 200 acres surrounding it upon his retirement in 1926. Years later he began planting nursery stock on the property in an effort to create a “series of pictures” visible from various vistas scattered throughout the parcel. It was his wish, according to MSU officials, that the “Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public” and he reportedly was actively involved in such decision-making until his death in 1955.
A substantial portion of the property, which through subsequent land purchases has more than tripled in size, is a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs, including flowering crabapples, beeches, lindens, maples, oaks, and a variety of evergreens. An incredible Bonsai Collection is an added treat, as is “Hosta Hillside,” which features more than 700 varieties of the shade-loving plants.
Several years ago, a “Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk” was added to the attractions, treating visitors to a 65-foot high and 726-foot walk through the treetops.
Perhaps the real gem at Hidden Lake is the Justin “Chub” Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, which is widely regarded as one of finest and “most extensive” collections of conifers in the United States. Located near the Nature Conservatory, the collection spills across a 5-acre site and includes more than 600 specimens, cultivars of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae, and junipers.
Harper, who died in 2009, was a renowned horticulturist, and formerly was the grounds maintenance supervisor for John Deere at its corporate headquarters in Moline, Ill. In 1981, Harper donated the bulk of his collection to Hidden Lake, a gift that involved a mammoth undertaking of digging, transporting, and transplanting.
In following years, Harper regularly made the 400-mile trek from Moline to Hidden Lake to check on the status of his beloved conifers, including a particularly memorable trip in 2004.
That year, after his wife Anna passed away following a battle with cancer, Harper and several friends spread her ashes throughout the conifer collection in accordance with her wishes. As the group was about to leave, they reportedly “sensed a presence among them,” according to Dr. Bert Cregg, author of a 2007 story on Harper that appeared in The Michigan Landscape magazine.
“As they turned around,” wrote Cregg, “they noticed the weeping Norway spruce behind them formed the perfect silhouette of an angel, complete with halo and wings. Several newspapers picked up the story and the legend of the ‘Angel of Hidden Lake Gardens’ was born.”
It’s a story, no doubt, that nature lovers across Michigan would fully appreciate, perhaps serving as further validation of how trees speak to the mind, tell us many good things, and teach us many valuable lessons in assorted divine ways.
As the label suggests, the Irish Hills was named after the wave of Irish immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century primarily because of the Great Potato Famine that devastated their homeland overseas. While many Irish came earlier due to economic hardship, the famine served as the catalyst for the largest influx of Irish into the United States.
Part of the appeal to settlers of the southern Michigan location, according to local historians, were the area’s rolling green hills and numerous kettle lakes that reminded them nostalgically of home. As a bonus for Irish settlers, the area also became a key stop on the early stagecoach route between Detroit and Chicago, providing opportunity for agriculture and small businesses to flourish.
After World War II, the area also became home to more than its share of quirky travel stops along U.S. 12, which at one point was the main artery between the Motor City and the Windy City. Among the roadside attractions was a “Prehistoric Forest” that featured a series of animatronic dinosaurs scattered throughout the park, along with a waterfall, a volcano, and a “Safari Train.” A “Mystery Hill” and the eye-catching “Irish Towers” were other traps for tourists.
Years later, after I-94 was fully built and became the main east-west thoroughfare through southern Michigan, the Irish Hills lost a bit of its allure for tourists, although it remained a summer hot spot for boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits.
One of which is visiting Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre feast for the eyes operated by Michigan State University near the tiny town of Tipton, some 70 miles south of MSU’s main campus.
Hidden Lake’s presence, like the Irish Hills itself, is equally mystifying to most Michiganders it would seem, as whenever I mention it as a must-see destination, more puzzled looks invariably appear.
The arboretum was donated by Adrian businessman Harry A. Fee to MSU in 1945 and forever will serve as his “dream as you go development.”
Fee, according to the “Brief History” of Hidden Lake Gardens provided by MSU, purchased the lake and 200 acres surrounding it upon his retirement in 1926. Years later he began planting nursery stock on the property in an effort to create a “series of pictures” visible from various vistas scattered throughout the parcel. It was his wish, according to MSU officials, that the “Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public” and he reportedly was actively involved in such decision-making until his death in 1955.
A substantial portion of the property, which through subsequent land purchases has more than tripled in size, is a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs, including flowering crabapples, beeches, lindens, maples, oaks, and a variety of evergreens. An incredible Bonsai Collection is an added treat, as is “Hosta Hillside,” which features more than 700 varieties of the shade-loving plants.
Several years ago, a “Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk” was added to the attractions, treating visitors to a 65-foot high and 726-foot walk through the treetops.
Perhaps the real gem at Hidden Lake is the Justin “Chub” Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, which is widely regarded as one of finest and “most extensive” collections of conifers in the United States. Located near the Nature Conservatory, the collection spills across a 5-acre site and includes more than 600 specimens, cultivars of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae, and junipers.
Harper, who died in 2009, was a renowned horticulturist, and formerly was the grounds maintenance supervisor for John Deere at its corporate headquarters in Moline, Ill. In 1981, Harper donated the bulk of his collection to Hidden Lake, a gift that involved a mammoth undertaking of digging, transporting, and transplanting.
In following years, Harper regularly made the 400-mile trek from Moline to Hidden Lake to check on the status of his beloved conifers, including a particularly memorable trip in 2004.
That year, after his wife Anna passed away following a battle with cancer, Harper and several friends spread her ashes throughout the conifer collection in accordance with her wishes. As the group was about to leave, they reportedly “sensed a presence among them,” according to Dr. Bert Cregg, author of a 2007 story on Harper that appeared in The Michigan Landscape magazine.
“As they turned around,” wrote Cregg, “they noticed the weeping Norway spruce behind them formed the perfect silhouette of an angel, complete with halo and wings. Several newspapers picked up the story and the legend of the ‘Angel of Hidden Lake Gardens’ was born.”
It’s a story, no doubt, that nature lovers across Michigan would fully appreciate, perhaps serving as further validation of how trees speak to the mind, tell us many good things, and teach us many valuable lessons in assorted divine ways.
A Bonsai Courtyard at Hidden Lake Gardens showcases an array of miniature trees some of which are more than 60 years old.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
