Blog and photos by
Cam Mannino
Last winter, I posted two blog entries about the history of Bear Creek Nature Park (early history and becoming a park). I had enormous fun doing it and you, the readers, seemed to enjoy it. The township was very lucky when back in the 1960s, George Comps wrote a 600 page book about his life on the farm where Bear Creek now stands. It had lots of photos and lively stories about that piece of land 75 years ago. Former Parks commissioner Alice Tomboulian also lent me photos from the 60’s and 70’s before the land was developed as a park – plus great stories as well. (Hover cursor for captions.)
I’d like to do similar pieces on other parks in the township – but I need your help! If you or anyone you know has information or photos about any Oakland Township parks before they were parks, Ben or I would love to hear from you (see map below). Maybe you lived on or near a parcel that is now a park, or have family history in the area. Please contact us stewardship@oaklandtownship.org, or use the form below. You can also call 248-651-7810 ext. 401. We look forward to hearing from you!
And thanks!
Natural Areas Notebook 