The Douglas House, also known as the Douglas Hotel or the North Branch Outing Club, is a sporting lodge located at 6122 East County Road 612 in

Lovells Township, Michigan Lovells Township is a civil township of Crawford County, Michigan, Crawford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 567 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Communities *Lovells is an unincorporated area, unincorporate ...

. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 2000 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

History

Thomas E. Douglas was born and educated in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and moved the Michigan to come to work as a bookkeeper in his uncle's lumber mill in Saginaw. In 1893, he moved to Grayling to manage the R. Hansen Lumber Company. Riding the wave of the lumber boom, in 1898 Douglas built a sawmill and general store in what was then the small logging community of Lovells. Fire destroyed the general store in 1903, and Douglas built a new store. In 1916, as the lumbering era was winding down, he constructed the Douglas House and established the North Branch Outing Club to draw tourists to the area. He used electricity generated in his mill to power the hotel. With the rise in the usage of the automobile, Douglas targeted wealthy travelers as club members, and drew members from the new Detroit automobile aristocracy such as

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

and his son Edsel,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Horace Dodge, and Charles Nash. Douglas had his daughter Margaret manage the hotel, a position which she occupied until it closed in 1971. Margaret continued to live in the hotel until her death. In 1996, the Douglas House reopened as a

sporting lodge In Great Britain and Ireland a sporting lodge – also known as a hunting lodge, hunting box, fishing hut, shooting box, or shooting lodge – is a building designed to provide wikt:lodging, lodging for those practising the sports of Fox hunting, ...

known as "North Branch Outing Club."

Description

The Douglas House is a two-story, wood frame, hipped-roof structure covered with clapboard. The inside has 20 guest rooms and lavish common spaces which have been altered very little.

References

External links

Fuller's North Branch Outing Club
{{National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1916 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Houses in Crawford County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places in Crawford County, Michigan