Michigan Almost Had Its Own Cedar Point

Southeast Michiganders love Cedar Point. How could anyone hate it? Riding rollercoasters by Lake Erie is as American as apple pie.

But Monroe almost had its own Cedar Point. Spilling into Lake Erie, at the mouth of the River Raisin, there once was a summer resort with a beach, a casino, a hotel, and even a roller coaster. In the history books, this vacation spot is known as The Monroe Piers. People from Detroit and Toledo came to enjoy the spot.

You could only get there by boat, trolley, or horseback, which is why it was inevitable that this haven of summer vacation would end with the cursed advent of the motor car.

The Piers became possible when in 1834 Captain Henry Smith of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed forming a canal that would straighten out the River Raisin. Once dug, the canal was 4,000 feet long by 100 feet wide with wooden piers running a fifth of a mile along the borders till it reached the lake. A lighthouse was built in 1849, and, in the 1850s, warehouses and mills were constructed along the canal. By the 1880s, the piers were starting to take shape, with passenger steamboats offering cruises out to the cove.

In 1895, the iconic Hotel Lotus opened along the channel, offering chicken dinners, a picnic spot, and a refreshment stand. There was a saloon, a merry-go-round, and games.

The Monroe Yacht Club opened in 1886, with William Clarke Sterling as commodore. In 1902 the club opened to the public and hosted regattas and dinners. In 1903, the club served 700 muskrats to guests. Years later, after falling upon hard times, the Bolles Harbor Yacht Club and the Monroe Boat Club joined together to become today’s Monroe Boat Club, which still hosts a muskrat dinner every January.

Two nearby islands had hunting clubhouses. Men like George Armstrong Custer used to hunt ducks, muskrats, swans, and geese. Of course, men also fished. Even President Grover Cleveland visited the region.

But the beach was the main draw. Some may be surprised to hear this, but back then, people loved swimming in Lake Erie. Since its is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, it’s always the warmest, though it was probably cleaner back then. Maybe our standards are simply too high today.

The swimming was so popular that the Toledo and Monroe Railroad had a line that ran straight down to the piers. It was called the Beach Line and cost a nickel for a 10-minute ride. Toledoans particularly loved the Piers and rode in by boat, carriage, or the Beach Line. It is estimated 70,000 rode the street car in 1905.

That same year a casino came in with a dance floor that hosted live music. But the greatest legend of Monroe Piers is the Monroe Roller Coaster. At 75 feet, the wooden tower that held the slide-friction coaster was decked in 1,000 incandescent lights that illuminated the beach for evening swimming.

Separate from the Monroe Piers Park Resort, the Monroe Roller Coaster Company owned the attraction. One wonders what could have been. Monroe could have been the roller coaster capital of America. At this time, Cedar Point was similar to the piers. There was swimming, dancing, and the park's first roller coasters. At that time Cedar Point had the Loop-to-Loop coaster, but it wasn’t over the water, and it didn’t have 1,000 bulbs.

With all those lights, no doubt Monroe’s thrill ride was far more glorious. Imagine riding a roller coaster over the water in 1905 and then getting to swim into the night in the glimmering lake. Unfortunately images of the coaster are difficult to find.

But in the race to being the amusement capital of the Great Lakes, Cedar Point passed the piers by the late 1920s.

By this point Henry Ford wasn’t just a quacky inventor. Cars had become the standards of travel. Everyone started leaving the piers for attractions they could reach by road.

In 1937, the Newton Steel Company bought 350 acres of the northern end of the Piers. The marshes, the pier, and the Hotel Lotus were devastated.

If one wants to see the remnants of the Piers, the beach at Sterling State Park is the closest you will get. Stand on the sand and look at the twin smokestacks of the DTE Monroe Power Plant. As the smog rises above the edge of Lake Erie and the River Raisin, you will see no remains of the pier or the lighthouse. But at least there are still lotuses.