The eight villages of Southwest Michigan's Harbor Country-Michiana, Grand Beach, New Buffalo, Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, and Three Oaks-have evolved from a group of humble frontier communities into a vacation mecca. Just 90 minutes from Chicago, Harbor Country's unspoiled beaches, marinas, antique shops, and shady country lanes have offered a weekend refuge to weary urbanites for years.

The New York Times once called Harbor Country "the Hamptons of the Midwest," perhaps because the area draws Chicago's illuminati to its shores. Yet most of the region's first settlers were...

La Grange was incorporated in 1879, and La Grange Park in 1892. Both areas were farmland before being developed as residential communities. Today, a large section of La Grange is a National Register Historic District, and this area is dominated by large Victorian and early-twentieth-century homes. In fact, the most striking feature of La Grange and La Grange Park is the well-preserved state of their vintage housing. Both villages have maintained a small-town look and feel that has attracted many families to the area. During World War I, the Marx Brothers, in order to avoid military service,...