On this day in 1915, Selina Pramstaller and Tillie Esper of Detroit wrote a note at Tashmoo Park, sealed it in a bottle, and cast it into the St. Clair River. Nearly a century later, in 2013, the bottle was discovered and now rests at the marina where the park once thrived.
TRANSCRIPT
Nearly a century ago, Selina Pramstaller and Tillie Esper of Detroit wrote a simple note as they enjoyed a day at a popular amusement park on Harsens Island. “Having a good time at Tashmoo,” their message states in neat cursive writing. They dated it June 30th, 1915. They stuffed the message in a bottle, corked it and threw it in the waters of the St. Clair River, where it sank to the bottom. There it laid for 97 years waiting to be discovered. The bottle was uncorked in 2013, at the park located on Harsens Island in the Flats at the northern end of Lake St. Clair. Tashmoo Park had picnic tables, a baseball diamond, swings and rides, as well as a casino and a dancing pavilion. Nearby indigenous people from nearby Walpole Island sold moccasins and beadwork. The park was served by many steamships that travelled several times a day between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan, delivering passengers and freight.
The bottle Selina and Tillie left in 1915 can now be found displayed at the marina, where Tashmoo park used to be.