The DeYoung family cherishes this land. In 2006, the family worked with the Leelanau Conservancy and Elmwood Township to permanently protect the farm and shoreline by establishing the DeYoung Natural Area. Cedar Lake was an important part of farming and family life. Louis DeYoung's dairy cattle grazed along the shoreline. Fishing, canoeing, and ice skating on the frozen lake was great fun. In 1881, Henry Campbell, who owned the farm before the DeYoung family, sold a right-of-way to the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad, now part of the Leelanau Trail. Local farmers used the railroad to transport their produce north to ships waiting in the Northport harbor, as well as south over land to reach larger markets.