Boo!
Scared ya, didn’t I? With Halloween just behind us, what a great time of year to have camped at Eden Springs Campground in Benton Harbor, Michigan. This campground was weird, and spooky, and weird. But fun! And interesting!
Eden Springs Park was a popular zoo and amusement park, founded by The House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan in the 1930’s. One of the main attractions at the park was a coal-powered miniature locomotive that gave rides all around the park.
The park also offered miniature racing cars, a restaurant, a penny arcade, pony rides, and dances and shows at the amphitheater. The park closed in the 1970’s and the land was abandoned. It was purchased and opened in 2011 as a campground on one side of the land, with the old buildings and train tracks on the other side of the land. The new owners are slowly working to refurbish the old buildings, which are VERY run-down and will take a long time to rebuild.
I was kind of surprised that we were allowed to walk the whole grounds and check it all out, as most of it is very hazardous due to the condition of the old buildings. However, our host (who lives on the grounds) was very kind and more than willing to answer all of our questions and allowed us to poke around all we wanted. The place was WEIRD.
Did I mention that the place was weird?
For a full read on The House of David, follow this link: http://theclassical.org/articles/the-beards-of-summer. Its a very well-written article describing this strange religious commune, where its members were sworn to celibacy and never cutting their hair or beards. Right behind the campground/park, there are a couple of houses that are home to the remaining 3 members of The House of David. They are well-fenced, and the manager of the park told us “they just want to be left alone.” The houses are large and very nice, from what we could see.
All in all, it was a very interesting couple of days spent at Eden Springs Campground. I would love to visit again some day!
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