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    Grand Haven
    Grand Haven
    Grand Haven
    Ebook113 pages28 minutes

    Grand Haven

    By Wallace K. Ewing Ph.D., Elizabeth Dobbie and Tri-Cities Historical Museum

    ()

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    About this ebook

    As fur trading in Michigan came to an end, pioneers migrated to Grand Haven for lumber. By the time the last acre of trees was harvested, Grand Haven had shifted from dependence on lumber to manufacturing and tourism. These images illustrate the foundations upon which the community was built and changes wrought through the years.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 7, 2009
    ISBN9781439624340
    Grand Haven
    Author

    Wallace K. Ewing Ph.D.

    Co-authors Wallace Ewing and David Seibold are both past board members of the Tri-Cities Historical Museum.

    Read more from Wallace K. Ewing Ph.D.

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      Book preview

      Grand Haven - Wallace K. Ewing Ph.D.

      series.

      INTRODUCTION

      When American pioneers pressed westward in the early 1800s, they avoided Michigan like the plague. Perhaps they preferred other territories because they did indeed fear a plague, malaria, or some other insect-borne disease in Michigan. The Wolverine State had a reputation as a place consisting of marshes, swamps, and low-lying land swarming with mosquitoes. Despite that reputation, the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 made the journey to Michigan easier. Boarding boats in Buffalo, settlers could sail west on Lake Erie, north on Lake Huron, and down Lake Michigan to any number of ports. Grand Haven offered one of the best ports on the big lake, a convenience that helped offset the nuisance of flying insects. In addition, Michigan’s longest river, the Grand, emptied into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven’s harbor. About a mile from the mouth of the Grand River, a body of water the Native Americans called the Big Bayou provided another attraction. Today that bayou is called Spring Lake. The first settlers, under the leadership of Rev. William M. Ferry, arrived on Sunday, November 2. Some of Ferry’s party stayed aboard ship that winter; others bedded down in a fur-trading post run by Rix Robinson. By the next fall, permanent homes had been built, warehouses constructed, and the first sawmill was in operation. By the middle of the 19th century, railroads made the migration to Grand Haven even easier.

      In short time, a dozen or so sawmills were built along the Grand River, some in the village of Ferrysburg, just over the river from Grand Haven, and others in the village of Spring Lake, a little east of Ferrysburg. With the growth of America and an ever-increasing demand for lumber, the communities thrived and the population multiplied. However, what had seemed like an endless supply of lumber turned out to be finite, and by 1890, the lumberjacks had moved west. With them went the economy. Business leaders who remained behind conferred and organized a board of trade that attracted manufacturing businesses, some wood-related and others more diverse.

      Meanwhile, a new industry was taking hold: tourism. The Lake Michigan waterfront, the Grand River, and the adjacent Spring Lake made the area a perfect water wonderland for vacationers, who started arriving as early as 1870 when magnetic mineral springs were discovered beneath the sandy surface. These magical springs encouraged the development of large resort hotels, whose aim was to attract and then spoil visitors with comfortable living quarters and hearty food and bracing air. A growing middle class from big cities throughout the Midwest, such as St. Louis and Chicago, discovered a paradise of cool lake breezes, expansive sandy beaches, and excellent fishing here. Visitors came by the trainload and the boatload in the late 1800s and into the 20th century. The Tri-Cities thrived once

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