Saugatuck built the Pump House in 1904 to house the community’s first water pumps at a construction cost of about $720. The pumps were part of a water system designed by Chicago engineer John W. Alvord. Two gas-powered pumps drew water from seven wells to a 100,000-gallon reservoir atop Lone Pine Dune, just north of Mt. Baldhead, and gravity carried the water through pipes under the Kalamazoo River to the village’s buildings and fire hydrants. In 1912 the building was doubled in size to accommodate the village’s first electric power station. By the 1930s, the pumps and power station could no longer meet demand, and new facilities were built elsewhere. The building then stood vacant until 1972, when it was converted into a summer cottage rented by Dr. William Shorey and his family. In 1992 the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society began using it as a museum, and in 2015 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.