“In 1961, real estate broker and
developer, Don Foote of Lansing, revealed plans for the development of a 300-acre housing
project southwest of the village of DeWitt. The
Lake Geneva Development Company of which Foote was president, had acquired the farm and
marsh land from five neighboring farms. The
area lay north of Herbison Road and was bounded somewhat on the north and west by the
Looking Glass River.
The marsh situated on the land had for
decades been a favored hunting and huckleberry picking area. It was cleared of its trees and brush in 1961 and
at the northern end an earthen dam was built. Water
from the Looking Glass River was then pumped into the 62 acre hole thus forming a lake
with an average depth of 14 feet. The first
lots to be sold were in ‘Riverwood Subdivision’, west of Schavey Road,
consisting of about 190 lots. The 300 lots of
‘Geneva Shores’, that parcel surrounding the lake, were put up for sale after
the lake was formed. It was (and remains) a
private lake of the Lake Geneva Association. The
Lake Geneva area was annexed into the city of DeWitt in 1967”.
