Tours offered by GWBHS
Experience your hometown’s history
Are you interested in learning about the rich history of your hometown?
The historical society is offering private tours in which you select not only the historical landmark but also the day and time – and pace – for your group to explore Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake and West Bloomfield, all led by trained docents.
- Available to organizations, families and schools
- Tours can be combined to meet your needs
- Reservation required three weeks in advance
- A 50% non-refundable deposit is required with Apple Island Tours and luncheon Reservations
Contact: Sebrina Borth at 248.922.1647
or
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Checks payable to GWBHS
Mail to: GWBHS, 3951 Orchard Lake Road
Orchard Lake, MI 48323
A guide will lead your stroll around the former Michigan Military Academy (1878-1908) on the grounds of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s campus. During the brief 30-year life of the school it was deemed the “West Point of the West.”
A guide will lead you along the West Bloomfield Nature Trail (from Orchard Lake north to Sylvan Lake, two miles) discussing the nine historical markers highlighting the former Grand Trunk Michigan railroad bed. It was parallel to what was once a light-rail, mass transit system known as the Detroit United Railway’s interurban line, or DUR. The Interurban carried passengers and freight throughout southeast Michigan from 1899 to 1929.
Take a 20-minute pontoon boat ride on Orchard Lake to Apple Island. Then walk the island with a docent to see such natural features as unusually large hardwood trees and manmade wells, cisterns and foundations from the 1800s and early 1900s.
Visit the museum, guided by a docent. Featured items of local interest include Native American implements, Keego Movie Theater relics, farming equipment, early maps, photographs and art work. The museum building is on the site of the Orchard Lake Hotel, opened in l869 and operated as a hotel until 1929 when it was purchased by Orchard Lake Village. The building is made from materials salvaged from the hotel.