Located two miles west of highway M-37 within the Huron-Manistee National Forest, this 200-acre unincorporated community, platted between 1921 and 1949, was a popular African American resort destination during the era of segregation. It includes gently rolling, forested terrain with development centered on Woodland Lake.
The community was developed by Ella and Marion Auther, African American entrepreneurs, and leading salespeople for the nearby Idlewild Resort. Recognizing Idlewild’s popularity, the couple purchased land from the Brookings Lumber Mill and sold modest, densely canopied lots to middle-class African Americans who built cabins and seasonal residences. In the 1920s Marion Auther spearheaded the development of the Royal Breeze Hotel on the north shore of Woodland Lake. The hotel, along with “the Clubhouse” on the south shore, served as the community’s social hubs. The buildings were connected by Lakeshore Walk, a ten-foot-wide, continuous, curvilinear waterfront trail. This Picturesque trail circumnavigates the lake, historically providing access to cottages, hotels, and other amenities.
Two perpendicular thoroughfares (Bingham Ave and 11 Mile Road) form the community’s central spines, meeting north of Woodland Lake. The intersection is marked by a relatively flat, approximately half-acre lawn, Yvonne’s Common Ground, which occupies the site of a former hotel, the Pine Cone Tavern. The lawn serves as a public gathering space and abuts a beach anchoring the north-south oriented Bingham Ave, while providing expansive waterfront views. The Kelsonia Inn, a former hotel and one of the community’s oldest standing buildings, faces the lawn. Streets north of 11 Mile Ave are oriented on a grid, whereas those to the south are curvilinear and roughly follow the lakeshore.
Listed in the Green Book and identified by the Afro American Travel Map (1942) as Bitely, visitation declined following the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
