Lake Lansing (Pine Lake) Amusement Park: 1900-1911

People just can’t seem to get enough about old amusements parks. One name that keeps popping up from time to time is Lake Lansing Park, or as it was once called, Pine Lake Park in Haslett.

I remember when I was a little kid, my dad would sometimes take me to work with him...a few times we went by Lake Lansing Park and I wanted SO bad to go in and check out that wondrous roller coaster...

The park area – formerly a fishing & hunting ground for the Chippewas for hundreds of years - had been used for vacations and recreation ever since the mid-late 1800s. To accommodate so many visitors, the Pine Lake House Hotel was built on the north shore in the 1870s. There was also a bath house, boat houses, dance hall, and ice house.

Get our free mobile app

In 1876, a steamer began operating by taking customers – up to 150 of ‘em - for rides around the lake. When the railroad came through in 1879, the lake became even MORE popular.

Then, in the 1880s, the Spiritualists used the west side of the lake for a summer encampment for their organization. Christened ‘Haslett Park’, after Spiritualist leader James Haslett, the camp brought in thousands and thousands of visitors right from the start. The Spiritualist camp had its peak and then declined in the early 1900s (their auditorium was later used for the park’s Dodgem Cars in the late 1950s).

The camp also included a dormitory/hotel, dining hall, séance hall, horse barn and facilities for boating. The Medium House had 16 rooms but only mediums were allowed to enter.

A two-story pavilion was built in the middle of the lake by a group of businessmen to use as their private club – The “Izzer Club” - that included a trap door they used for pranks and practical jokes. Urban Legend says the trapdoor was later used by the Mob to dispose of illegal booze, drugs.....and victims.

In 1929, the Spiritualist camp was sold to the Haslett Park Association, and the area was eventually turned into an amusement park in the early 1930s.

The Pine Lake House burned down in 1929, replaced by the Dells Ballroom that hosted many of the popular Big Bands of the era. The park added amusement rides including a roller coaster, Merry-Go-Round, pony rides, mini-railroad, concession stands, Tilt-A-Whirl, and the above-mentioned Dodgem Cars.

The amusement park lasted a good forty years, from 1934-1974.....and then it closed for good.
The ballroom had its last day in 1986.

Even though all the mysticism of the Spiritualists and the thrill of the amusements are gone, many visitors flock to the park year-round.