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“The History of Crystal Highlands”
Presented by: Anne Rogers
Replay Link on YouTube: https://youtu.be/u1RU9gNXU5Q
High on a glacial moraine above Crystal Lake’s north shore is Crystal Highlands, a community that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025. In the early part of the 20th century, after the logging era, orchards and farms were established in the cut-over lands.
Established around 1910 as Crystal Lake Orchards, under the ownership of Frank Kimball and William Gleason Willard, the farm and orchard expanded and thrived for many decades under ownership of William Dayton Willard, son William Gleason Willard.
In the early 1970s, Jim Kelly and Jack French acquired 550 acres of farmland with a vision to create a resort community while preserving the area’s ecology.
This is the story of Crystal Highlands.
Presenter: Anne Rogers
Anne is a volunteer in the Benzie Area Historical Society Archives. Born in Southern Indiana, she spent her childhood summers on the north shore of Crystal Lake, with happy memories of weekly visits to the library right here in the Mills Community House. She has been roaming the trails in Crystal Highlands since its inception and still lives there today. After rewarding careers at The Dow Chemical Company in Midland and Cargill in Minneapolis, Anne is happily retired and volunteers at the Benzie Area Historical Society Archive and the Piping Plover team in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.