From lake cottages to a wartime boomtown
Van Buren Township organized in 1835, and its outdoor-living story runs through two very different eras: the 1925-26 French Landing Dam created Belleville Lake and a brief resort-cottage boom in the 1930s, and then World War II brought the Willow Run Bomber Plant and Airport, built in 1941 along what became known as the "Bomber Highway" (today's I-94).
Wartime subdivision yards versus lakefront lots
Homes built to house the Willow Run plant's wartime workforce sit on more uniform, smaller subdivision lots laid out for speed, while the township's older lakefront properties along Belleville Lake carry the more irregular, generously sized lots typical of a 1930s resort-cottage layout — a real difference when planning a deck footprint and setbacks.
Deck Builder in Van Buren Township
Prepare a Van Buren Township inquiry
Note whether the property is a wartime-era Willow Run subdivision home or a Belleville Lake shoreline property, and the desired deck size and use.
The Bomber Highway corridor today
I-94's route traces the historic "Bomber Highway" built to serve Willow Run; homes along that corridor tend to date from the WWII-era boom, while those set back toward the lake often predate it and carry a different yard layout.