Nestled along the shoreline of Mona Lake is a peaceful stretch of land known as Hackley Point, a place that weaves together laughter, lake breezes, backyard adventures, and generations of memories. Today, it’s marked by a quiet residential drive, but to Barbara Holt, it was simply home. A place where family history and lakeside memories run deep.
Barbara’s story reads like a coming-of-age novel set in a real-life summer camp. Her family’s legacy on the property dates back to the early 1900s, when her great-grandfather, Frank Holt, is said to have won the original Hackley summer home in a poker game with Charles Hackley himself. It’s a piece of local folklore—never officially documented, but never denied either. As Barbara explains, “No official record has ever confirmed it, but no one ever denied it either.” Even when she asked her father, he’d just chuckle and walk away. True or not, the lore reflects the kind of Norton Shores charm that can’t be manufactured.
The Holt family planted deep roots in Norton Shores, and by the 1950s, Barbara’s parents had built a new ranch-style family home where the Hackley cottage once stood. Before that, summers were spent at the original cottage, a place Barbara’s great-grandparents and grandparents packed up and moved to each season from Peck Street in Muskegon, ready to trade city life for long, unplugged days by the lake. From there, Barbara and her siblings lived out a childhood filled with paddle boats, sailing regattas, bonfires, and barefoot freedom. The property itself was abundant with fresh fruit and vegetables. Neighbors had full gardens, and fresh asparagus was plentiful in the spring, picked straight from the land and served at the family table.
“We didn’t have cell phones or helmets,” Barbara says with a smile. “We had sprinklers, rafts made of barrels, and each other.”
What makes this story more than nostalgia is how it highlights something timeless about Norton Shores. The sense of community—neighbors who became extended family, regattas that brought together ten or more local families every Sunday, and a “Seaweed Festival” organized by neighborhood families and held in the Ladd Pharmacy parking lot—echoes the values our city still holds dear. The Seaweed Festival was the Norton Shores version of the famed Seaway Festival that took place in the City of Muskegon.
Barbara recalls events like the Mona Lake Christmas Tree Lighting, a tradition started by her parents and still celebrated today, and tales of regattas where children learned to sail and families gathered for lawn picnics. There are even more colorful chapters, like the time a jailbreak fugitive was discovered hiding in the family’s boathouse attic in the 1960s. Or the family tradition of building homes as wedding gifts, something Barbara’s father put an end to after having five children, opting instead to send them to college. These are the kinds of details that turn local history into personal legacy. In true Norton Shores fashion, even the strangest stories come with warmth and a grin.
These memories aren’t just Barbara’s. They belong to Norton Shores, woven into the fabric of our city’s past and present.
Along with her stories, Barbara, now a local real estate expert who knows the lakefront community as both a resident and a professional, shared a thoughtful collection of family photos, each offering a glimpse into daily life at Hackley Point. The captions help tell the story, capturing simple moments and everyday life growing up by Mona Lake. The photos show life at the lake—gatherings with friends and neighbors, lazy afternoons on the dock, and familiar family artifacts like the Hackley wicker furniture that once filled the cottage. Barbara still uses the furniture today and plans to pass it down to her daughters, continuing the tradition. From summer birthdays to snowy backyard fun, they reflect a warm, close-knit community and a family’s deep connection to a special place in Norton Shores.
They offer a glimpse into what makes this community so special, where childhoods are shaped by the water and families grow alongside long-standing traditions. They show us that even as the years pass and new homes appear, the stories remain. And they underscore something we already know: Norton Shores is the kind of place that makes strangers neighbors and neighbors family.
So next time you drive down Hile Road and see the sign for Hackley Point, take a moment. Remember that this isn’t just a pretty spot on Mona Lake. It was once the playground of Norton Shores’ early industrial families. From poker games among lumber barons to backyard toboggan runs, Hackley Point holds a history that’s both grand and personal. Imagine the kids on toboggans flying over the snow-covered hill and landing on a frozen Mona Lake. Picture the porch lit up for the holidays. Hear the laughter of long summer days echoing over Mona Lake.
In Barbara’s words: “It was enchanted. Every day was summer camp.”
And that spirit? It’s in our nature.
