A multiproxy paleolimnological study of Douglas Lake, Michigan, was undertaken to elucidate the history of productivity and oxygen depletion in three basins of this multi-depression lake. Indicators investigated in three dated cores included chlorophyll a, Fe and Mn stratigraphy, and fossil chironomid assemblages. The coring sites were chosen to correspond to modern studies of oxygen depletion rates, and to determine if conclusions reached in these studies were supported by paleolimnological evidence. Stratigraphies of chlorophyll a, Fe and Mn indicate that two of the basins, South Fishtail Bay and Fairy Island, have been eutrophic and anoxic for a long period of time, predating European settlement. The third basin, Grapevine Point, has been consistently less productive, and had less severe oxygen depletion. Results of the chironomid analysis agree with these conclusions, including a change from mesotrophic to eutrophic indicator taxa in the Grapevine Point basin. All three cores show evidence of increasing trophic state in the most recent sediments, supporting some of the conclusions reached in the modern studies. It is also demonstrated that deforestation of the watershed had profound effects on littoral chironomid assemblages. Paleolimnological investigations also demonstrated the individual nature of the separate basins in Douglas Lake.