“The History of Crystal Highlands.”
Presented by: Anne Rogers
Thursday, February 12, 2026, 4 pm
Where: Mills Community House & ZOOM

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. 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 that community.

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.

This presentation is part of the Benzie Area Historical Society’s Benzonia Academy Lecture Series, held on the second Thursday of each month. Admission is by donation, and the recommended donation is $5.

To learn more about the February 12th lecture, visit the Benzie Area Historical Society’s website, benziemuseum.org, Instagram, or Facebook page; call the Museum at (231) 882-5539; or email info@benziemuseum.org.