Village of Grand Rapids

Village of Grand Rapids. . , The Village of Grand Rapids was organized by an act of the Michigan legislature on April 5, 1838. Located on the east side of the Grand River, the village was bounded by Fulton Street on the south, Hatch's Addition on the east, Hastings Street on the north, and Canal (Monroe) Avenue and the river on the west. , Grand Rapids in 1838 was a boom town, attractive to settlers and land speculators alike. Numbered among the nearly 1,000 villagers were shopkeepers and craftsmen, cabinetmakers, shoemakers, a baker, a tailor, lawyers, and doctors. The village also boasted a small foundry, flour mills and sawmills, a brickyard, a newspaper, five religious congregations, and a school. Several newly built steamboats made regular trips to Grand Haven. , The village was governed by a board of six trustees headed by Henry C. Smith, its first president. At early village meetings, the trustees voted to prohibit horse racing, discharging firearms, and gambling, within village limits. They also voted to dig a village well and purchase land for a cemetery. , Just as the village was organizing, a national depression turned the boom to bust, and the village economy collapsed. The days of wild speculation ended, and Grand Rapids grew slowly during the 1840's as it struggled toward economic stability. , When Grand Rapids became a city in 1850 it had a population of more than 2,600, and was emerging as the dominant city in West Michigan. , Donated by the city of Grand Rapids on April 5, 1988.