Beulah, MI

Beulah is a Benzie County village at the southeast end of Crystal Lake, immediately north of Benzonia and surrounded by northwest Lower Michigan woods and water. It is the county seat, although only 313 people lived here in 2020. The lake is the town's first landmark: its outlet once fed a canal to the Betsie River, opening a route toward Lake Michigan before later changes lowered the lake and required a dam. The railroad arrived in 1889, adding another way into the village.

Charles E. Bailey founded Beulah in 1880. Early development used Crystal City and Beulah View Resort names, but Beulah became the established name by 1899. The county seat moved here in 1916, and the old New Grand pavilion later served as a courthouse until 1976. Today the day dock, Darcy Library, Beulah Village Park, and the Crystal Lake Community Business Association's calendar keep the center connected to the water. Music in the Street, Winterfest, Fall Fest, the Beulah Art Fair, and the Crystal Lake Team Marathon give the small county seat a surprisingly full seasonal calendar.