A trip through Michigan’s Green Book sites in photos

• Michigan’s history office is starting a new initiative to research the Green Book sites in the state
• Of more than 200 places that welcomed Black travelers from the 1930s to 1960s, only about 100 remain
• The goal is to tell a richer story of state history by focusing on the African American travel stops, including resorts, growing out of segregation

The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, also known as the Negro Motorist Green Book or simply ‘The Green Book,’ was published by Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966. The publication detailed safe and welcoming stops for African Americans as auto sales and car travel increased in the US. 

The book was necessary due to segregation imposed in restaurants, gas stations and hotels, along with threats of racial violence. In those days, travel could take days and require multiple stops, raising questions about safety and convenience for Black travelers.

Many of the listings represented in the Green Book helped Black Americans to plan recreation, in addition to more basic transportation stops. Michigan was home to two larger resorts, along with multiple smaller ones.

Michigan’s listings in the Green Book from the 1940s show some of the geographic range and business variety found in the publication. Idlewild, the famous resort near Baldwin, runs a close second to Detroit in the number of listings. 

Related:

• Green Book in Michigan: Inside the mission to preserve Black travel sites
• Michigan gets $75,000 for preservation of Green Book sites that served African Americans
• ‘Reparative’ discussions consider how I-375 rebuild will honor historic Black neighborhoods
• Once a gem, African-American resort community seeks new identity

The State’s Historic Preservation Office is using the Green Book listings as a basis for its search for remaining sites. One goal is to document them and potentially preserve them. Eventually, the deep-dive research starting this spring could invigorate a resurgence of interest in visiting the locations and recognizing their historic importance. 

The properties are a “physical testament to the African American quest for freedom, equality, and reprieve in places they could call their own,” according to a historical analysis of one Michigan site, Woodland Park.

Idlewild, near Baldwin, was Michigan’s largest and most popular African American resort. It gained the reputation as the “Black Eden” as it welcomed celebrities, intellectuals and other famous people to its facilities. Famous entertainers including Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan helped to boost its status. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library)

Idlewild earned a reputation as an active entertainment destination, but its location on a lake in rural Michigan made for some typical summer relaxation, too. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library)

Another view of Idlewild from a postcard.  Idlewild marketing including many postcards to show what the resort was like. The resort in the Manistee National Forest was founded by four white developers, including two from Chicago. Marion and Ella Auther helped to build its popularity, and the Ohio couple later founded Woodland Park a few miles south in Newaygo County. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library)

The Royal Breeze Hotel was a popular inn in Woodland Park after it opened in the 1920s. The social hub was located on the north shore of Woodland Lake. It had 50 guest suites and a wraparound front porch. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library)

The Royal Breeze Hotel clubhouse burned down in the 1940s. Today, the stone hearth from the main room remains. (David Ruck for Bridge Michigan)

The Kelsonia Inn in Woodland Park, as it looks today. Still owned by the family of Lola Tyson, who used to operate it and her rental cabins in the resort, the inn is no longer operating. However, the extended Tyson family and their guests use it every summer. (Woodland Park Historic Community Plan)

A historic postcard of the Kelsonia Inn that was used to market Woodland Park to travelers and potential land buyers. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public LIbrary)

The search for Green Book sites in Michigan can lead to a dead end, or turn up just remnants of the state’s past. This building foundation is in Woodland Park, just west of the “four corners” that once were a community hub. (David Ruck for Bridge Michigan)

Detroit was a major Black destination, but many of the city’s Green Book sites are long gone. Many were located in Paradise Valley, the thriving Black business district that was demolished to make room for I-375. The Mt. Royal was located on Woodward Avenue, north of West Grand Boulevard. It opened in 1924 and had 60 rooms.(Courtesy of HistoricDetroit.org)

Michigan State University created an interactive map of 86 businesses in Detroit listed over several years. 

Green Book sites extended across the Lower Peninsula. The Casaloma Apartment Hotel was located in Grindstone City in Michigan’s Thumb area. (Courtesy of Michigan’s State Office of Historic Preservation)

The Allenel Hotel in Ann Arbor welcomed African Americans to downtown, at the corner of East Huron and Fourth Avenue. This photo is from the 1930s. 

“The public dining room, off Fourth Avenue, became one of the town’s most elegant eating places,” according to an account by Grace Shackman on the Ann Arbor District Library’s website. Shackman, writing for the Ann Arbor Observer, also related that President Gerald Ford and Betty Ford, his wife, stayed in the hotel as newlyweds while in town to see University of Michigan football. (Courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library).

The lakes area of southwest Michigan held many smaller resorts, like this one near Paw Paw. The location gave Chicago residents, among others, the chance to spend time outdoors but not drive too far from home.  (Courtesy of the State Office of Historic Preservation)

Another view of Idlewild, this time a smaller cottage.