User:EllenZoe/sandbox/Actor's Colony

Actors' Colony was a community for theatrical and vaudeville performers conceived by C.S. "Pop" Ford and located in Bluffton, near Muskegon, Michigan. Originally called the Artists' Colony Club, and it was founded on June 14, 1908 with Joe Keaton, father of Buster Keaton, as president. Vaudevillians Paul Lucier, and William "Mush" Rawls were vice president and treasurer/secretary, respectively.

The Actors' Colony ended operations in 1938.

History
In the early 20th century, the area of Muskegon, Michigan was a popular vaudeville stop at a summer show house at nearby Lake Michigan Park. One of those early visitors was Joe Keaton, who, along with his family, made Bluffton an annual summer retreat in a cottage on a sand dune known as Pigeon Hill. From 1908 and continuing through 1917, Keaton, and his family of five, including wife, Myra, and son Joseph (nicknamed Buster), not only performed their family vaudeville show in the Muskegon area, but settled into this home on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to Buster's wife, Eleanor, this was the famous silent picture actor's "favorite place on earth".

A year after he arrived in the area, Joe Keaton along with C.S. "Pop" Ford, conceived the idea of a permanent facility for road-wary vaudevillians looking to settle in one spot. Originally, the locals organized the Cobwebs and Rafters club in Pascoe's Place, a local bar, but the attendance quickly outgrew the site, and the Actors' Club was built in the permanent facility. This waterfront property, a one-story clubhouse headquarters, was owned by Lew Pearl, one of the first performers to make Muskegon his permanent summer home.

Keaton and Pearl sold plots of land to fellow performers, who then built cottages where they could come and relax in the summers while working on their acts to take on tour the following year. By 1911, more than 200 theater and vaudeville performers resided in the Actors' Colony settlement in Bluffton. Most of the cottages sat on a stretch of land facing Lake Michigan or Muskegon Lake. Some of the personalities living there included "Happy Jack" Gardner, Dick Dixon, George Pearl, Joseph Roberts and many more. It was a common sight to see among the performers someone like Max Gruber, who brought his trained animals, including elephants zebras and dogs into the clubhouse.

The area's Theatrical Colony Yacht Club featured an annual event, whereby the denizens of the Actors' Colony would perform.

By 1918, films began replacing vaudeville for entertainment. As a result, attendance at Actors' Colony declined and eventually the community dissolved. Many of the homes and landmarks remain in Bluffton.