Rawlings Farm - Southwest corner, 60th Street & Kalamazoo Avenue.

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Rawlings farm was on the southwest corner of Kalamazoo Avenue and 60th Street, and consisted of about 80 acres. At one point - around 1985? - the farm was sold to the xxx church, which claimed to want to develop a facility. The church instead sold much of the land along Kalamazoo Avenue to commercial interests. The farmhouse and barns were of course razed. So all that remains today is photos like that shown above.

Softwater Lake was apparently mostly owned by relatives of the Rawlings in the 1940s yet. The water is indeed soft - or was in 1940. The photograph shows a public swimming facility. The tall structure was a swing which swimmers could use to throw themselves far out in to the lake. In year 2011 the lake is almost totally ringed by highways and houses. The condition of the water is probably lower than 70 years ago, because of inevitable runoff.