HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI – The underground hideaway of a cement tycoon who allegedly hosted the likes of Henry Ford and Al Capone is now open to the public at the heart of an art-filled public park.
For decades, McCourtie Park – the rolling, 42-acre summer estate built on farmland owned by W.H.L. “Herb” McCourtie south of Jackson – has drawn visitors with its unique concrete artwork in the wood-grain style called “trabajo rustico.” Owned by Somerset Township, the property features 17 faux wood concrete bridges, a pair of tree-like chimneys and multiple benches and chairs made in the style by Mexican artists George Cardosa and Ralph Corona.
McCourtie, who established the Trinity Portland Cement Co. in Dallas, met the concrete artists while investing in Texas oil fields and brought them to Michigan to build what he called “Aiden’s Lair.” The estate featured an expansive main home with a ballroom that no longer stands. Facing a cost of more than $200,000 to restore the farmhouse, damaged by a 1939 fire, the township decided in 1990 to instead demolish it.
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In the hillside below the main home, McCourtie constructed the “rathskeller” – the German name for an underground beer hall – that became locally known during Prohibition as a hub of activity for politicians and regional dignitaries and, allegedly, members of the criminal underground.
The bar’s entrance was hidden from nearby U.S. 12, and on either side of the underground bar, guests’ cars were protected behind bulletproof motorized garage doors. Inside the beer hall, visitors gathered in a lavishly-decorated barroom or the nearby card room. At the opposite end of the rathskeller, a heavy door protected a vault-like room with an unknown purpose.
An extensive renovation to the rathskeller, which sat in disrepair for years before the township acquired it, was completed in 2023. The space is now open to the public on Fridays during the summer. The Hillsdale Historical Society is working on plans for public and private events and a miniature museum of documents. The township also updated the kitchen and converted one of the garage spaces into an event space, which can be rented for events.
Township Coordinator Shaina Kulczycki has been welcoming the public to the space during her office hours.
“So many people when they get to come in now to the building and see the space, they always say how, for years, they would peek through the windows,” she said. “There’ been lots of talk and stories about the prohibition days... it gives you something to think about when you see the bulletproof doors.”
As McCourtie rubbed shoulders with 1920′s elite and built a fortune in concrete, his artists assembled a wealth of artwork in the trabajo rustico style that ranks among the largest in North America.
Each of the park’s signature bridges over Goose Creek feature a unique design, with concrete molded over steel to resemble logs and boards as well as knotted rope and other structural elements. All the bridges still stand, each having been professionally restored by expert Melinda LoPresto of Hillsdale County in 2001.
McCourtie also had the artists construct a pair of man-made concrete pools and two bird houses. The larger of the bird houses, originally meant to attract migrating purple martins, can house more than 200 birds and cost more than $2,000 in 1924.
The park regularly welcomes county residents and travelers for picnics and nature walks on its scenic rolling acres. The north end of the park features a sports complex including tennis, basketball and beach volleyball courts as well as baseball fields and an 18-hole disc golf course.
“This is also a beautiful natural space,” Kulczycki said “There’s a great diversity of birds and plants.”
Thanks to the concrete artwork and McCourtie’s tradition of opening the park up to the public for a “homecoming” each summer, McCourtie Park became a Michigan state Historic Site in 1991 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. A historical marker atop the hill celebrates the artwork and commemorates Herb McCourtie’s accomplishments.
McCourtie Park is open dawn to dusk every day. The rathskeller is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Friday until Labor Day. Upcoming events at the park include an Independence Day celebration starting at 3 p.m. July 5 and free music performances at the pavilion from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 16 and Aug. 31.
Those interested in volunteering on the grounds at McCourtie Park or booking the private event space in the rathskeller should contact Township Coordinator Shaina Kulczycki at coordinator@somersettwp.org.