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Irish Hills Towers

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1924. 8433 W. U.S. 12

Rising above Brighton Hill in the Irish Hills are two sixty-four-foot-high observation towers built by the Michigan Observation Company in the 1920s and its main competitor, Edward Kelly, on adjoining property. Interior stairs climb to a viewing platform at the summit. This afforded panoramic views of the surrounding hills and lakes that attracted tourists motoring through the Irish Hills on the Chicago Turnpike between Detroit and Chicago. The towers represent those lookouts and associated souvenir shops, restaurants, and overnight accommodations built during the early period of automobile tourism.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Data

What's Nearby

Davenport Hotel (Bauer Manor)
Walker Tavern
Italianate Houses

Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "Irish Hills Towers", [Onsted, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-LE11.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 190-190.

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