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Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Fenton MI

Address: 2301 Sonora Dr
City: Fenton
State: MI
Zip: 48430
County: Genesee
Number of visits to this page: 4694
General Information:

Thanks to Sean Corcoran for the heads up on this location.

From TC Times - Jan Rynearson

It’s difficult in the current day to visualize that Lake Fenton, formerly called Long Lake, was once the site of numerous resort hotels. Hundreds of visitors came by train to Fenton, boarded the horse-drawn streetcar at the corner by the Fenton Hotel, and traveled 2½ miles to Eddy’s Landing on South Long Lake Road to catch one of the paddlewheel boats that plied the lake. The two largest boats, City of Fenton and City of Flint, carried more than 600 passengers, each.

Ed Wood built a hotel at Summit Heights, then a part of Bayport. This was later used as part of the ballroom known as Summit Heights.

In the mid-1900s, a three-story structure was built on Bayport Park on the north end of the lake at a very high elevation. It was a resort dance hall and restaurant that was called Summit Heights. It became a renowned place to dance and dine.

It boasted a swaying or "spring" floor. The finest name orchestras and bands of the era performed there. There was a formal dining room with a tin ceiling and wooden floor, a lunchroom and fountain with a tin ceiling and wood floor, and an elegant ballroom. The bathhouse was at the lower level. The sign atop the building read, "Dine and Dance."

The resort had a gigantic slide into the water for adventuresome swimmers. It was said that in winter it was used as a toboggan slide. One could end up sliding way across the ice to Case’s Island.

Harry Bidelman, of Fenton recalls that his mother, Rachel, worked at Summit Heights doing food preparation. He remembers his dad taking the kids, including him, out there "to pick mom up from work."

Vince Harrison, of Fenton, said his parents, Jack and Lena, enjoyed going out to Summit Heights to dance.

"It was one of their favorite spots," said Harrison, who noted it was in 1938 that the resort burned to the ground and was never rebuilt.

It is now the site of the Lake Fenton Sailing Club. A large portion of the high cliff was removed when the current building was erected. It remains a busy and picturesque spot on the Lake Fenton, but has never been as popular as it was when Summit Heights was in its hey day.

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 Photos:14
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Photo
Historical Photo
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - 2022 Street View
2022 Street View
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - View Of The Lake
View Of The Lake
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - View Of The Lake
View Of The Lake
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Ad
Historical Ad
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Sep 1936 Ad
Sep 1936 Ad
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Article
Historical Article
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Historical Article
Historical Article
Summit Heights Resort Dance Hall - Apr 1932 Ad
Apr 1932 Ad
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