When Lake Lansing Was Known as Pine Lake

Ask anyone from Gen Z how to get to Pine Lake in Lansing and you’ll probably get blank stares, a lot of “I dunnos”, and “there ain’t no Pine Lake in Lansing” remarks. Those are dead giveaways of either those too young or newbies to the area.

Pine Lake still exists – it's just now known as Lake Lansing.....it was also once the name of what is now the town of Haslett.

Haslett's beginnings go back to the 1840s when the swamps of Pine Lake were inhabited by 35 farmer families and a one-room schoolhouse. In 1879 it became a postal station under the name “Pine Lake P.O.”. That same year, Lansing's urban trolley system began bringing people out to Pine Lake for recreation.

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Pine Lake was also a Spiritualist camp founded by James Haslett. Around the first day of fall in 1890, it was re-named Haslett Park; five years later, the “Park” was dropped and it was known as just 'Haslett' from then on, which became the name of the village nearby.

When James passed away, his wife Sarah donated the land to the Haslett Park Association. Eager to take advantage of the situation, it didn't take long for the association to construct a full-fledged amusement park on the property. There was a merry-go-round, roller coaster, tilt-a-whirl, refreshments, games, and many other amusements.

In the 1870s the Pine Lake House hotel was built but burned down in the 1920s. It was re-constructed as the Dells Ballroom and became so popular, people from all around Michigan and even out of state came to enjoy the dances and other 'things' they had going on there.

Rumors flew about visitations from some of the big-name gangsters of the time: Al Capone (he seemed to be everywhere in Michigan – no surprise there), Mickey Cohen, and Baby Face Nelson among them.

After Pine Lake's name was changed to Lake Lansing in 1930, over the next 100 years Haslett really expanded and continues to thrive. If you head east on Haslett Road from Marsh Road. you can see some old original structures from over 100 years ago; or, if you scuba dive, you can probably see remnants of the old dancehall/speakeasy that used to be in the middle of the lake.

Other rumors say the hall had a trap door where bodies were disposed of into the lake. So who knows what you may find down there?