Facts about Hi-land Lake
A few quick facts about our lake
Hi-land Lake, in the past called Reeves' Pond, is a 122-acre man-made lake located in Putnam Township (section 32) in Livingston County and Dexter Township (section 5) in Washtenaw County. The lake contains three acres of islands, so the surface area of the lake is 119 acres. The lake has a maximum depth of 12 feet and an average depth of 6.4 feet. The volume of the lake is 671 acre feet. Hi-Land lake has a shoreline of 35,126 feet, and sits 882 feet above sea level.
Hi-Land lake was created in the 1840s when the Portage River, also called Hell Creek, was impounded by a 14 foot high dam.
The Portage River flows into the lake on the west side and out of the lake on the northeast corner. This lake flushes, or changes it's total water volume, about once a week on average. This is high for a Michigan inland lake and because of this, Hi-Land Lake should never suffer from low water levels, even in dry years.
Hi-Land is in the Portage River basin, which is part of the Huron River system. The Portage River joins the Huron River below Portage Lake. The Huron River flows into Lake Erie in Monroe, Michigan.
Excerpts from 1993-2010 Water Quality Study by Water Quality Investigators
Hell History
It's unclear how hell got its name
Hell developed around a sawmill, gristmill, distillery and tavern. All four were operated by George Reeves, who moved to the area in the 1830s from the Catskill Mountains in New York. He purchased a sawmill on what is now known as Hell Creek in 1841. In addition to the sawmill, Reeves purchased 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land surrounding the mill. Reeves then built a gristmill on Hell Creek which was powered by water that was impounded by a small dam across the creek. Farmers in the area were quite successful in growing wheat and had an abundance of grain. Reeves opened a distillery to process the excess grain into whiskey. Reeves also opened a general store/tavern on his property.[3]
The tavern and distillery soon became a thriving business for Reeves. He built a ballroom on the second floor of the establishment and a sulky racetrack around his millpond. Reeves also sold his alcohol to nearby roadhouses and stores for as little as ten cents a gallon. His operation came under the scrutiny of the U.S. government in the years after the American Civil War. When tax collectors came to Hell to assess his operation, Reeves and his customers conspired to hide the whiskey by filling barrels and sinking them to the bottom of the millpond. When the government agents left the area, the barrels were hauled to the surface with ropes. As Reeves aged, he slowed his business ventures, closing the distillery and witnessing the burning of the gristmill. He died in 1877.
Reeves' family sold the land to a group of investors from Detroit in 1924. The investors increased the size of the millpond by raising the level of the dam, creating what is now Hiland Lake. The area soon became a summer resort area, attracting visitors for swimming and fishing. Henry Ford considered building some manufacturing facilities in the area but decided against it.
Hell has been noted on a list of unusual place names. There are a number of theories for the origin of Hell's name. The first is that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schön hell!" (translated as, "So beautifully bright!") Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck. The second theory is tied to the "hell-like" conditions encountered by early explorers including mosquitos, thick forest cover, and extensive wetlands. The third is that George’s habit of paying the local farmers for their grain with home distilled whiskey led many wives to comment “He’s gone to Hell again” when questioned about their husband’s whereabouts during harvest time. A fourth is that soon after Michigan gained statehood, George Reeves was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called and replied "I don't care. You can name it Hell for all I care." The name became official on October 13, 1841.
From Wikipedia, Hell, Michigan
