History of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Journey back in time to Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• 1825 - Grand Rapids, Michigan founded
  
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• 1854 - Grand Rapids
  Grand Rapids city, capital of Kent co., Michigan, is finely situated on the rapids of Grand River, 40 miles from its mouth, and 60 miles W. N. W. from...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Morton House
  
  The Morton Hotel was the place to stay when business travelers came by the trainload to buy furniture for their stores back home.
  
  The Morton Hotel is the fourth hotel structure on the northwest corner of Monroe Center and Ionia... Read MORE...
  
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• 1876 - September 19 - 1st carpet sweeper patented (Melville Bissell of Grand Rapids, Mich)
  
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• 1880 - July 23 - 1st commercial hydroelectric power planet begins, Grand Rapids, Mich
  
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  1880s
  The Goshen Sweeper Co.
  Easiest Operated Carpet Sweepers Made
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  Michigan Soldier's Home
  
  1886
  The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans is established
  On 90 acres of land, experts built three main buildings, 19 additional buildings and a 5,000-grave cemetery... michigan.gov
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• 1895 - Grand Rapids
  Grand Rapids, a city of Michigan, capital of Kent co., at the head of steamboat navigation on Grand River," the junction of 6 railroads,—the Chicago &...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1896 - An Aeronaut Killed
  Grand Rapids, Mich., June 29. - Hiram Cole, twenty-six years old, a professional aeronaut, living in Big Rapids, Mich., fell thirty feet from his ball...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  A Good Cheap Desk
  The Fred Macey Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
  
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  January 1898
  
  The Macey Furniture Co. was founded by Fred Macey, who served as its first chairman along with his brother Frank, who also served as treasurer. In... Read MORE...
  
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  Ramona Theatre, Reeds Lake, Grand Rapids, Mich.
  
  Ramona Park was an amusement park located on the western shore of Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1903-1954... The park also included the Ramona Theatre which hosted vaudeville shows, ... Read MORE...
  
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  Canal Street, looking North
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  The Dam. Grand River, Grand Rapids, Mich.
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  U. B. A. Hospital, Grand Rapids, Mich.
  
  The U.B.A. is the Union Benevolent Association, previously the Ladies’ Union Benevolent Association, and this organization built the hospital in 1886. Visible on the porch is at least one nurse and likely... Read MORE...
  
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  Monroe Avenue Looking West. Grand Rapids, Mich.
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  City Hall, Grand Rapids, Mich.
  
  The Grand Rapids City Hall was a government building located at 35 Lyon Street, NW, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, but demolished later that year, and... Read MORE...
  
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  Lower Monroe Avenue, Grand Rapids, Mich.
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•  1905 - TRAIN CRASHES INTO STREET CAR
  Four Probably Fatally Injured, Two Others Hurt, at Grand Rapids, Mich.
  
  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 1. — Six persons were injured, four probably fatal...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Campau Square, 1909
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  A View in John Ball Park, 1909
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•  1910 - BIG CYCLONE RUINS CROPS
  Michigan Section Storm Swept, and Creek Overflows, Flooding Houses.
  
  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 25. - A storm of cyclone proportions raged today nort...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Boat and Canoe Club
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  Kent County Court House
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  High School
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  North Park Pavilion
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•  1912 - TORNADO
  Grand Rapids, Mich, July 13. - Grand Rapids was hit early today by a cyclone that injured forty or more persons and did thousands of dollars worth of ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Hotel Pantlind
  
  The hotel building was originally named for the Pantlind family, famous local hoteliers, and was conceived to accommodate the large number of furniture buyers who frequented the city.
  In 1925, the Pantlind Hotel was ranked as one... Read MORE...
  
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  Monroe and S. Division St.
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  Phoenix Furniture Co.
  
  1868: William A. Berkey becomes assignee for the property of cabinetmakers Atkins and Soule.
  
  1872: Berkey combines residuals of Atkins & Soule with $200,000 new capital to form Phoenix Furniture Co.
  
  The Phoenix... Read MORE...
  
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• 1916
  Grand Rapids, a city of Michigan, capital of Kent co., at the head of steamboat navigation on the Grand River, at the junction of the Grand Rapids and...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  New Y.M.C.A. Building, 1916
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  First Methodist Episcopal Church
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  Grand River
  Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co.
  
  Like a lot of well-intentioned people who plan on having a relaxing Saturday, we didn’t really mean to start cleaning—it just happened. In 1876, Melville R. Bissell and his wife, Anna, were running a small... Read MORE...
  
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  Interurban Bridge
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  Butterworth Hospital
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• 1945 - January 25 - Grand Rapids, Michigan becomes 1st US city to fluoridate its water
  
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  Civic Auditorium, 1949
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