Wolf Lake Casino, Jackson County: Gone, but.....mostly Forgotten

Back in the early 1900s, when Jacksonians got the urge to do a little gambling, where would they go? To Grass Lake! Okay, some of you were caught shaking your heads in disbelief...but it’s a fact.

Back then, the nearest casino to Jackson was the Wolf Lake Casino, built by William A. Boland. This Grass Laker made a bundle of dough on Wall Street in the 1800s; wanting to move back near his hometown, he built an estate which he dubbed Grey Towers, just south of Page Avenue.

Not stopping there, he purchased ‘Akin’s Landing’, which came complete with a boat launch and hotel. There, he built Wolf Lake Casino, a three-story pavilion out over the water, which opened to the public in 1900. Boland also built the ‘Boland Line’, an interurban railway that ran from Jackson to Grass Lake...the first run took place on June 29, 1901.

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In 1903, he added a spur that ran from the main track to Wolf Lake so people could ride directly to his casino.

The casino not only provided gambling, but weekend concerts, dances, dinners, and vaudeville shows.

As with all good things, it came to an end in September 1913, when it burned down.....like so many other entertainment venues from the first half of the 20th Century. His interurban train made its last runs in 1923, thanks to more and more people choosing to travel by automobile.

Another of Boland’s projects was Boland Park on Center Lake in Michigan Center, now absorbed by the homes on Duryea Point.