Who Was Logan Drake?

Who Was Logan Drake?
By Don Terrill (c)

Logan Drake was my great-grandfather. He died 16 years before I was born, but that has not stopped me from feeling a connection. First some background...

Logan Drake, one of five children from a St. Joseph family, was a man of many talents, and deserves the credit for establishing the 20+ acre park (Silver Beach Amusement Park). Born April 22, 1863, Drake began his schooling in Kalamazoo and continued it in Muskegon and St. Joseph. At the age of sixteen, Drake traveled to Chicago, where he and his younger brother Fred operated a confectionary store on 31st Street. A year later the elder Drake returned to St. Joseph where he purchased land from the Pere Marquette Railroad and established a boat livery on the St. Joseph River. Drake also bought 22 acres of sand dunes from local Indians along the St. Joseph River and Lake Michigan. Giving them a year to move off the land, he began building.
---Alan Schultz, Michigan History Magazine, 1979

What this excerpt doesn't point out is that Logan was just 17 when he purchased the 22 acres of lake front property. Let that sink in for a second. What were you doing at 17? What were any of us doing at 17? I assure you, I didn't have the balls to purchase 22 acres of prime real estate.

The boldness of this action alone makes him an inspiration to me, but he wasn't done yet, not by a long shot...

While Drake was traveling around the state in his early years, another key figure in the Silver Beach story was attending school back in St. Joseph. Louis D. Wallace, one of thirteen children, was born November 25, 1864 in Chicago, and came to southwestern Michigan at the age of two when his father, John, opened Wallace Lumber Yard in the city. He went to work for Drake's boat livery in 1885 and the two became friends. Soon after Drake established the Silver Beach Amusement and Realty Company in 1891, Wallace was granted co-ownership. The two built ten cottages along the beach and rented them out to vacationers.

The next step for the infant company was easy. The beach needed something to make it popular, so the pair invited local concessionaires to put up wooden stands and sell novelties on the sand. These early concessions sold everything from swimming caps to lemonade in a barrel. Soon games of chance sprang up and later an early photographic studio emerged where couples could have their portrait taken.
---Alan Schultz, Michigan History Magazine, 1979

That was just the beginning of what would become Silver Beach Amusement Park.

The Silver Beach Amusement Park that graced the shores of St. Joseph, Michigan from 1891-1971 meant something special to every one of its millions of patrons through the years -- regardless of age. To some the Silver Beach Amusement Park meant an afternoon of carnival rides, snacks, and games of chance and skill. To others it meant a family picnic, a swim in the big lake, or just a moonlight stroll along the boardwalk. Still others saw Silver Beach Amusement Park as a way of life. These were the people who so faithfully worked there, summer after summer, most of them for periods of twenty years or more. The workers needed no union, the management required no leases, and terms of business were generally settled with a friendly handshake. "The whole idea was to have fun," said one St. Joseph resident who worked at the Silver Beach Amusement Park. "Mr. Drake insisted on honesty from all of us, that's all, and we loved working there. He didn't want anyone cheated out of having a good time."
---Alan Schultz, Michigan History Magazine, 1979

Logan would die in 1947. As for the park, it would last another 24 years. Just like many businesses, once the founder is gone, it's a slow slide to eventual death. I'm sure my grandparents did their best, but nothing beats the drive and passion of the person who built the business.

It's sad to think there's nothing left of his efforts - The beach is now just sand and a couple of towers full of condos.

It would have been nice to see his beneficiaries build from where he left off. Instead, they cashed in his hard work to fund their retirements.

I want to learn two things from Logan:

1. Think and act big
2. Don't leave the business to your kids
   

More:
http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/extra/silver_beach.html
http://www.swmidirectory.org/History_of_Silver_Beach_Amusement_Park.html
http://logandrake.com