For generations the Hadley Hills have been a source of wonderment to many of the people who have partaken in their beauty.  One of those hills, probably the steepest hill in this area, has an interesting history behind it. The hill is known as the Pennacle.  It sits in the middle of nowhere, nearly one half mile from a mere trail named Jasmond Road.

Atop the goliath hill is an old stone foundation.  Once a part of a rich man's estate, the foundation supported a lookout building built in 1926 by Edwin Seelblinder.  Seelblinder was the caretaker of more than 300 Hadley Hills acres, owned by the late William Neer.  Neer was once the president of the Detroit Stock Exchange and the owner of the posh Tam O'Shanter Country Club.

The lookout building was built as an attaction for Neer's guests.  It was an unusual building made of logs and timber.  It was six sided, but only twenty four feet in diameter.  Inside was a sixteen foot tall fireplace, and a kerosene lamp dotted each of the windowed exterior walls...a classy place.  Model T trucks and horses hauled building materials up the hill.

During World War II, the lookout was rumored to be a Nazi spy camp.  This, and other rumors were directed at the many Germans that had settled in the Hadley Hills area.  Of course, the rumors were false.

In 1946, Neer sold his Hadley Hills property to the State of Michigan.

In 1949, the lookout burned to the ground.  The other Neer buildings met similar fates in later years.  None are left today.  Only the graffiti stained foundation remains.