Idlewild: the Black Eden of the Midwest

Deep in Lake County’s woods sits one of the most important places in African American history. From 1912 through the 1960s, Idlewild — “the Black Eden” — was the premier resort in America open to Black families, in an era when nearly every other vacation town was closed to them. Thousands came each summer to swim, fish, and own a piece of lakefront freedom; W.E.B. Du Bois and Madam C.J. Walker bought in early, and by the 1950s the Paradise Club and Flamingo Club made Idlewild a stop on the national entertainment circuit — Louis Armstrong, Della Reese, Sarah Vaughan, The Four Tops and a young Aretha Franklin all played these woods.

Integration opened other doors and quieted the boom, but Idlewild never disappeared: descendants keep cottages, the Idlewild Historic and Cultural Center tells the story, and summer reunions still fill the lakes with music. The county around it stays true to its roots as cottage country — the Pere Marquette River’s celebrated fly water, national forest in every direction, and some of Michigan’s most affordable lakefront. History this rich in a county this quiet is Michigan’s best-kept secret, twice over.