A better title may be “The way we were – going to be.” This is a prediction made in 1912 about how Buckeye Lake would grow and change and what it would become. This was written only six years after the founding of BLYC and the same year construction was begun on our existing Clubhouse.
In 1912, the book The Story of Buckeye Lake was published. The author was Joseph Simpson. The copyright has expired and I am certain that the author would be pleased to know that we still care about his writing efforts. Thanks to Governor Bob Zeiher, the owner of one of the few remaining copies, I was able to scan it and upload it to Comm. Steve Harris’ fantastic BLYC website [http://www.buckeyelakeyc.com/] to eventually make it available to everyone. The book is 104 pages and full of really old stories. Here is an excerpt that concludes the book. Judge for yourself about the author’s foresight.
“A Grand Spot
Some day Buckeye Lake will be a grand spot compared with what it is now. It may be fifty years hence or longer when expensive buildings and fine grounds will beautify its shores. With ponderous machines, shallow place now harboring useless herbage will be deepend and broadened, when wide canals and islands will appear forming unique building spots to be adorned with beautiful residences, and gardens and trees, including tall spear pointed poplars in the distance.
The reader may smile at our picture and call it ‘a fancy,’ but someday it will come true, too true alas, when you and I and hundreds of others will be dead and gone. The people of Central Ohio need such a spot.”
Today, ninety six years later, we can all now see the “expensive buildings and fine grounds.” The islands have been and are becoming more and more “unique building spots” “adorned with beautiful residences.” The lake could use a little more “deepening” but compared to what it was then, we have had a lot, if deepening includes raising the water level. As for ponderous machines, perhaps you have an idea of what the author had in mind. But if he meant the big power boats that replaced the little steam driven craft, we have that too. It’s been nearly a century since these predictions. What would you predict for the remainder of this century?
