From 1911 through the 1930s, Lake Orion had a summer amusement and resort destination on Park Island with dancing, live music, lunch stands, souvenir shops, games including Japanese Rolling Ball, a $12,000 carousel, a roller coaster, and Michigan's largest waterslide. It began in 1911 when John Winter of the Lake Orion Summer Homes Company bought Park Island and quickly developed it into a place that drew thousands of people each week during the summer, while also building many summer homes that attracted vacationers seeking “up north” living. The Main Landing to the resort, now Green's Park, was easily reached from the Detroit Urban Railway and the Michigan Central Railroad, and featured a large illuminated entrance with arches for people boarding the launch to the island, along with the Lake Shore Cafe and the Lakeside Hotel, owned by the Green family. On Park Island, the wooden roller coaster The Thriller, whose tracks at one point extended out over the lake, and a large dance pavilion were major attractions, and the pavilion hosted performers such as Logan's Lansing Orchestra and Butler's Band from Detroit before burning down twice and being rebuilt each time, surviving into the 1940s. Visitors also enjoyed a penny arcade, open-air markets, souvenir shops, food and drink stands, and a dining room. In the early 1900s, nearby Bellevue Island, also known as Assembly Island, was the site of popular Chautauquas that brought thousands to assemblies featuring evangelists and political speakers such as Billy Sunday, Homer Rodeheave, and William Jennings Bryan, as well as lectures, church services, concerts, plays, and classes in music, theater, and dramatic speaking. An auditorium there seated 2240 people, the island also had the Bellevue and Lakeview hotels and a number of cottages, it could be reached by a wooden footbridge built in 1897, and in 1900 rooms rented for $5.00 a night at the Bellevue Hotel and $2.50 per night at the Lakeview Hotel.