Belle Isle Resort

A prominent sign and a carved statue welcome visitors to the Belle Isle Resort, circa 1920s.

John Doyle Collection

History

In 1912, Fred Schofield set a new standard on Isle Royale when he opened the Belle Isle Resort. Schofield had co-owned the Tobin Harbor Resort for a short time, but wanted to start a new resort. By June 1912 he had built the main lodge and four cottages on Fish Island (now called Belle Isle), off Isle Royale's northeastern shore. The dining room had a dramatic view of the harbor, and the lodge had a sitting room with a fleldstone fireplace. The sitting room was decorated with oriental rugs, hunting trophies, photographs, and lake trout on the walls.

Within a few years, the Belle Isle resort was the finest on Isle Royale. Schofield even put in a small, nine-hole golf course (the longest hole was only 94 yards), a tennis court, shuffleboard court, and a swimming "pool" (which was actually a walled-off portion of Lake Superior). At its peak the resort included twenty-eight cottages and two central bath houses that boasted electricity and toilet facilities. The cabins did not have plumbing, but the staff delivered hot water each morning. Today, only one of the cabins, a simple hipped-roofed wood frame guest cottage, remains standing at Belle Isle. The remains of the old dock can be seen in the shallow water northwest of the modern boat landing. Remnants of the nine-hole golf course (which has been turned into a campground) are difficult to detect, but the cement slabs of the shuffleboard courts remain.

(Karamanski, 1988)

Resort Site Map

Belle Isle Golf Course

Golf Course Scorecard from Belle Isle Resort, circa 1920s.

Isle Royale National Park Archives

Johnson's Resort

A Resort with a Convenient Store Resorts Home