The Interurban Traditional Cache

A peanut butter jar, located on the trackbed of the now defunct Interurban Rail Line that ran from Macatawa Park to Saugatuck.

The depression of 1873 was followed by a period of expansion. Resorters from Chicago and Grand Rapids were attracted to the Holland area’s lakeshore and beaches, where family cottages and huge hotels were constructed at Macatawa Park and Ottawa Beach. Electric streetcars and Interurban trains followed to connect the resorts to Holland and Grand Rapids.¹ On July 4, 1898, the first Interurban electric railroad car to carry passengers arrived in Holland.

The first rails in Holland had been laid by the Holland and Lake Michigan Railway at River (Avenue) and Eighth Street. The cars are on the track a half-block east of there. More than 100 men and 17 teams of horses constructed the line. The payroll for construction workers was $1,000 weekly. The trains ran from Grand Rapids through Grandville, Jenison, Shack Huddle, Jamestown, Forest Grove, Vriesland, Zeeland, Holland, Jenison Park, Macatawa Park, and Saugatuck. The Interurban freight office was on Eighth Street near Pine Avenue. The passenger train continued south on River and turned west on 13th Street. The line continued near South Shore Drive, stopping near Sunnybrook Station at Virginia Park. Extending south near 160th Street, the rails ran right under your feet to Castle Park and Saugatuck.

With increasing competition from Safety Motor Coach Lines, a bus line which later became Central Greyhound Lines, as well as cars, the interurban was abandoned on November 15, 1926.^2,3 Today, portions of the raised track bed still run along the lakeshore from Holland to Saugatuck.

Located in Sanctuary Woods Preserve, this park occupies approximately 40 acres in the northwestern corner of Laketown Township, with parking off 66th St. It is open from 6:00 am to dusk and features well-developed trails through a back dune forest, great views of Lakes Macatawa and Michigan, bird-watching, abundant wildlife, and the trackbed of the old Grand Rapids, Holland & Chicago Railway. The cache is a medium sized Lock & Lock loaded with jewels, coins, PathTags, toys and amphibians. After logging your find, walk a few hundred feet south along the trackbed to see the old bridge structures. There are several great caches up those steps ... See the Sanctuary bookmark list.

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Placed & maintained by a member of Michigan Geocaching Organization!