Lake Lawn (Images of America) - Softcover

Bell, Ellen Baker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738560278 ISBN 13: 9780738560274

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

Nestled on 275 shaded acres beside beautiful Delavan Lake, Lake Lawn has been a favorite vacation destination since 1878. Much of the area’s local history is rooted to this wooded lakeside retreat. It is the site of the highest concentration of ancient Native American effigy mounds in the area. Plus, it was the place where the Mabie brothers first brought their circus, leading to Delavan’s designation as 19th-century circus capital of the nation. It was also home to the Lake Lawn Ballroom, one of the most popular dance halls of its day, where a young Lawrence Welk played annually before achieving national fame. In addition to its historical significance, Lake Lawn was the beloved vacation spot for generations of families who enjoyed annual trips to its lakeside cottages and rustic timber lodges.

About this title

About the Author:

Ellen Baker Bell has countless happy childhood memories of family vacations at Lake Lawn. With the help of local historians and former resort employees, she began to preserve its unique history. The result is a compilation including not only factual accounts of the resort but also personal stories and rare photographs from the collections of many who have loved Lake Lawn over the years. W. Gordon Yadon has spent his life chronicling the unique history of his beloved Delavan. Yadon is a member of the Delavan Historical Society and historical columnist for the Delavan Enterprise.

Review:

Title: New book filled with Lake Lawn’s past

Author: Anne Marie Ames

Publisher: The Janesville Gazette

Date: 6/21/2009
Some might look through the book and exclaim, “I remember that!”
Others might think, “I can’t believe girls had to wait tables in that get-up!”
In either case, the pictures and captions in the book “Lake Lawn” are a genuine slice of Delavan History.
Arcadia Publishing on Saturday, June 27, will release “Lake Lawn,” a book written by Chicago native Ellen Baker Bell. The book is part of the “Images of America” series.
Priced at $21.99, “Lake Lawn” features a wide variety of black-and-white photos describing the history of the resort that’s known as the oldest continually operating hotel in Wisconsin.
The pictures show guests, staff members, vintage hotel literature and buildings. The captions describe many of the resort’s former owners, popular staff members and special occasions.
The book describes the importance of the circus in Delavan’s history and the native Americans who lived on Lake Delavan long before the resort was founded in 1878.
Delavan historian Gordon Yadon wrote a foreword to the 128-page paperback.
As a pre-teen, Yadon caddied at the resort during the Great Depression, he told the Gazette. He writes a regular column about Delavan history in The Delavan Enterprise newspaper.
“The author has made a valuable contribution to the recorded history of the Delavan area,” Yadon wrote. “Every page between the covers is valuable and interesting.”
Yadon told the Gazette he contributed most of the information Bell collected about the Lake Lawn Ball Room, a popular venue in its day.
Yadon has a record of every dance band that played in the hall from 1935 to 1955, he said.
Baker Bell grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Her parents honeymooned at Lake Lawn, and she and her family spent many summers there.
“‘Somebody should write a book about Lake Lawn,’” Baker Bell wrote in her acknowledgements. “Little did I know as I said those fateful words in the Lake Lawn gift shop that I was about to embark on such a wonderful journey.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0738560278
• ISBN 13: 9780738560274
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128