Zeeland in Ottawa County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen
Photographed By Kathy Garman, June 6, 2021
1. New Groningen Cemetery Marker
Inscription.
New Groningen Cemetery, also, Groningen. .
New Groningen Cemetery. New Groningen Cemetery is the only remnant of the dream of Jan Rabbers to establish Groningen, a commercial and industrial colony for Dutch immigrants who were not farmers. The log house and store owned by Rabbers and his wife, Cornelia, once stood on this site. In 1858, when the residents of Groningen relocated to the village of New Groningen about one mile northeast of here, the Rabberses sold the property to the churchyard association. Additional land purchases brought the cemetery to its present size. Most graves have simple headstones. Those of more prominent settlers can be identified by the large obelisks denoting family plots. Many of the oldest graves are unmarked, the wooden markers having deteriorated and disappeared.,
Groningen. Established in 1847 as the commercial and industrial center of the Dutch colonies settled by immigrants in Ottawa County, Groningen began as a thriving village. Groningen’s founder, Jan Rabbers, was among the followers of Albertus Van Raalte who established the Holland settlement earlier that year. For his own community, Rabbers chose a site on the Black River, which he thought would became a major trade artery because of its location at the endpoint of a navigable waterway. He built a small log house and store on this site, a bridge over the river, and a lumber mill nearby. The promising village died when the bridge washed out in 1856 and a new one downstream diverted traffic to that area. Groningen’s citizens relocated their settlement to that site, which they called New Groningen.
New Groningen Cemetery
New Groningen Cemetery is the only remnant of the dream of Jan Rabbers to establish Groningen, a commercial and industrial colony for Dutch immigrants who were not farmers. The log house and store owned by Rabbers and his wife, Cornelia, once stood on this site. In 1858, when the residents of Groningen relocated to the village of New Groningen about one mile northeast of here, the Rabberses sold the property to the churchyard association. Additional land purchases brought the cemetery to its present size. Most graves have simple headstones. Those of more prominent settlers can be identified by the large obelisks denoting family plots. Many of the oldest graves are unmarked, the wooden markers having deteriorated and disappeared.
Groningen
Established in 1847 as the commercial and industrial center of the Dutch colonies settled by immigrants in Ottawa County, Groningen began as a thriving village. Groningen’s founder, Jan Rabbers, was among the followers of Albertus Van Raalte who established the Holland settlement earlier that year. For his own community, Rabbers chose a site on the Black River, which he thought would became a major trade artery because of its location at the endpoint of a navigable waterway. He built a small log house and store
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on this site, a bridge over the river, and a lumber mill nearby. The promising village died when the bridge washed out in 1856 and a new one downstream diverted traffic to that area. Groningen’s citizens relocated their settlement to that site, which they called New Groningen.
Erected 2001 by Michigan Historical Commission - Michigan Historical Center. (Marker Number L2095.)
Location. 42° 47.94′ N, 86° 2.732′ W. Marker is in Zeeland, Michigan, in Ottawa County. Marker is on 106th Avenue, 0.4 miles south of Business Interstate 196, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1650 106th Ave, Zeeland MI 49464, United States of America. Touch for directions.
4. New Groningen Cemetery Sign and Historical Marker
With the cemetery in the background.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 23, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 22, 2021, by John Garman of Rochester Hills. This page has been viewed 169 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 22, 2021, by John Garman of Rochester Hills. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
