ABOUT SILVER LAKE

Silver Lake is also known as Green Oak Lake on many maps.  The names are used somewhat interchangeably.  It does help since there are so many other Silver Lakes locally within a short distance of ours. 

The surface area of Silver Lake covers 152 acres.  The deepest part is about 42' deep, although this fluctuates slightly with our water level.  Silver Lake is a natural spring-fed lake.

Whether looking up on a map or making a cool decoration piece, the official coordinates of the lake are:

Latitude:  42.4661861

Longitude:  -83.7222454 

Silver Lake has always been a destination.  Chippewa and Potawatomi Indians enjoyed spending time around the waters of Green Oak Township up through the early 1800s.  By the early 1900s, the lakes of the area became booming recreational hot spots for both locals and tourists.  The Doane family had the first cottage on Silver Lake, with the family having a farm on the lake back to 1837.  The Peach family also homesteaded on Silver Lake since 1899 and were known to have the tallest windmill on the lake.  In addition to farming, the Peach family operated a saw mill, general store, and ice house on Silver Lake.  Ice harvesting was a big business in Green Oak and the surrounding area, as a way to provide refrigeration to residences and cottages all summer long.  Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the lake attracted many summer cottage owners who enjoyed vacationing here from metro Detroit.  Moving into the 21st century, many of the houses on Silver Lake have been converted into full-time residences.

UTILITIES:  The area first saw an electricity supply starting in 1923.  Telephone service to the lake began in 1915  with the creation of the Silver Lake Phone Company.  By 1937, South Lyon Telephone Company bought the Silver Lake Phone Company, which in turn was later sold to Livingston Home Telephone Company and Michigan Bell.  The original cost of a phone was $3 for the pole and phone, plus $5.60 for four months of service!  Later, cottage owners were given the option of having an eight-party shared line telephone, which many long term residents may remember.  The party lines were discontinued in the 1970s when individual lines became available.

SILVER LAKE FREE METHODIST CHURCH:  From 1897 until 1930, Silver Lake was home to the Silver Lake Free Methodist Church.  The church merged with the Hamburg Free Methodist Church in 1961 to become the Green Oak Free Methodist Church, located on Fieldcrest near US-23.

Green Oak received its name by accident.  Notable resident and two term governor Kingsley Bingham requested a post office from the US Government.  He requested it to be named Greenock, after his brother-in-law's hometown in Scotland.   The US Government mistakenly recorded the post office as Green Oak.  Due to the large number of green oak trees in the area, the new name seemed fitting and stuck around.

For more information on the history of Silver Lake and Green Oak Township, check out the book "Yesteryears of Green Oak, 1830-1930".  This book was published by the Green Oak Historical Society in 1981.  ISBN 0-936792-00-0