Records dating back to 1883 indicate that John Higman Jr., a prosperous businessman, owned 146 acres of property northwest of Benton Harbor. He developed part of the property into a resort area known as “Higman’s Michigan Park,” or Higman Park as we know it today. In 1911 Arthur Higman, John’s son, decided to sell his part of the Higman estate - the site of the present day Jean Klock Park. He sold the property to Edward K. Warren in 1912. Warren was dedicated to land conservation. He purchased the property to preserve the land for public pleasure and education in nature’s great outdoors. In 1916 Warren approached Benton Harbor city officials with an option to buy the land for use as a public park. City officials unanimously supported the idea and asked city residents to approve a bond to fund the purchase. Between November, 1916 and April, 1917 city residents voted down the bond issue three times. Though each vote was extremely close, the 2/3 majority needed was never obtained.

John Nellis Klock, a forwarding thinking Benton Harbor civic leader, realized the importance of Lake Michigan access for the city. That belief, coupled with his wife Carrie’s desire to give something special to the children, spurred his decision to buy the land from Warren and deed it to Benton Harbor. On May 17, 1917, the city council accepted the Klocks’ gift of 90 acres of land fronting on Lake Michigan, in memory of their deceased daughter Jean, to be used as a public park. The dedication of the park was held on July 14th. An estimated 4000 people attended.

In a moving speech, John Klock told the people…..“The beach is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours. It is not so much a gift from my wife and myself as a gift from a little child. See to it that the park is the children’s.”