History Of WolverineLake:

Wolverine Lake was created from six small lakes; Spring, Mayie, Pork Barrel, Bickling, Taylor and Bradley, all surrounded by marsh land.

Dr. Howard Stuart was the man who conceived of and gave birth to WolverineLake.

The idea to build a dam came to Dr. Stuart one spring day in 1914. While out walking that spring day in 1914, he came upon the culvert that crossed the road where the dam is now. The culvert had filled with sand, making the water back up, flooding the land south of the road. At that time, he thought that the six small lakes, surrounded by marsh, had possibly been one large lake at one time. They ran into another obstacle; the closing of a section line road between Mayie and SpringLake. That road can still be seen today under the water of WolverineLake. The county attorney advised them they would have to get all the property owners to sign a petition to close the road.

Construction of the dam finally began in the fall of 1919 with the help of many men and ten teams of horses. They encountered many discouraging setbacks; like striking a hole at the east end of the dam and filling in four feet of dirt each day and having it sink four feet each day, the raising and graveling of Benstein road at a cost of 6000 dollars, two lawsuits wanting damages and one wanting the dam taken out. Dr. Stuart won each case including the last one that went all the way to the State Supreme Court.

Finally, the dam was completed. The fill is 600 feet long, the concrete structure is 72 feet across from one wing tip to the other. The main body and spillway is 24 feet and constructed on 26 feet of marl. From the bottom of the foundation to the top of the concrete it is 40 feet. One side of the dam settled 9-3/4 inches in the first month. They took levels for three years after that and it never settled anymore. In making the lake, an island was formed on Dr. Stuart’s land. It is now called Stuart’s OakIsland.

Dr. Stuart can truly be called the Founding Father of Wolverine Lake. It is the nucleus and heart of the community. The residents concern for their lake and the desire to maintain control of it led to the formation of the Consolidated Subdivision of Wolverine Lake. Eight separate subdivision associations joined together in the early 40’s to form a more viable political force. Attempts to divide the lake and the surrounding community by annexation or incorporation by the neighboring communities led the Consolidated Subdivisions to try for incorporation as a home rule Village in 1954. A charter was approved by Governor G. Mennen Williams on May 11, 1954 and adopted by the voters on June 7, 1954.