In Memory of Our
Patriot Dead
We here highly resolve
that these dead shall
not have died in vain.
Lincoln.
We loved our country
Gave our lives for her
Do ye, our children
for her honor live.
Sleep in peace with kindred ashes
Of . . . — — Map (db m79925) WM
Delphos
The home of
Lincoln's Little
Correspondent
Grace Bedell Billings
1848 - 1936
At the age of 11, Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote Candidate Abraham Lincoln on Oct. 15, 1860 suggesting that he grow a beard. She felt . . . — — Map (db m79927) HM
Capt. Zebulon M. Pike and Exploring Party passed near here Sept. 22, 1806 en route to the Pawnee village to win tribal allegiance to the United States
One Day's March
Lost Creek Camp [to] First Creek Camp
Pike's Route traced by
Theo. H. . . . — — Map (db m79955) HM
Let this memorial forever stand in remembrance of the men and women who served our country so that this nation shall have "government of the people, by the people, for the people"
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . . — — Map (db m79926) WM
Rock City rocks are magnificent examples of sandstone concretions which have formed in the millions of years since Kansas was covered by an inland sea. This is the only place in the world where so many concretions of such giant size are found in . . . — — Map (db m79957) HM
In the mid-nineteenth century a site
called Blendon Landing was located
in this vicinity on the Grand River.
Blendon was organized in 1854 and
named for the Blendon Lumber Com-
pany. A logging train hauled timber
seven miles from the pine . . . — — Map (db m229866) HM
This depot and substation served the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway, an electric interurban railroad that operated from 1902 to 1928. A third rail in the country and an overhead wire in cities supplied the train’s power. Frequent runs . . . — — Map (db m154390) HM
This monument stands in memory of Charles W Westover known to many as Rock 'N' Roll recording artist, writer and record producer, Del Shannon, by the people of Coopersville. He is remembered as a friend who never forgot his roots.
Chuck was the . . . — — Map (db m154391) HM
The village of Drenthe was settled by
three groups of Dutch immigrants in 1847.
Those from Staphorst settled to the west;
those from the province of Drenthe, to
the east; and the “Flakkenaars” from Zuid
Holland, to the north. The settlers . . . — — Map (db m230001) HM
Since its construction in 1871 by lumber baron H.C. Akeley, this building was home to Watson's Dry Goods, George McBride's law offices and John Danhof's real estate and insurance business. Corneil Addison started his dry goods, carpet and . . . — — Map (db m152887) HM
This pleasant block served as Grand Haven's first municipal cemetery. In 1874 a burgeoning population prompted the City Council to open a new cemetery at Lake Forest and to order the removal of all bodies from this site. With the help of the Woman's . . . — — Map (db m153597) HM
The first Central School was built in 1871. The Grand Haven Tribune hailed the belfry-topped school as the "finest in the state" and "the pride of every citizen of Grand Haven." The newspaper blamed arsonists for burning the school on May 5, . . . — — Map (db m89379) HM
Until the 1930's the Coast Guard surfmen were shore based, equipped only with oarpowered surfboats to rescue shipwrecked seamen. As steel hulled steam vessels replaced the wooden schooners, more and more wrecks occurred in mid-Lake far away from the . . . — — Map (db m153592) HM
Built in 1870, this building has been prominent in Grand Haven's history, both as a railroad depot and as a historical museum. For many years downtown Grand Haven enjoyed train whistles and churning locomotives arriving here with passengers and . . . — — Map (db m152891) HM
Grand Haven remembers and honors the United States Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba at Escanaba Memorial Park. Based in Grand Haven from 1932 to 1942, the Escanaba embarked on many Great Lakes rescue and ice-breaking missions. The vessel left for service . . . — — Map (db m88819) HM
Text on the Front Side of the Marker:
City of Grand Haven
Escanaba
Park
Parks & Recreation
Text on the Back Side of the Marker:
Originally named John Kelly Park,
the name of the park was changed . . . — — Map (db m88900)
This plaque is issued by the Historical Society of Michigan in recognition of First Reformed Church Grand Haven founded in 1850 for more than 100 years of providing continuous service to the people of Michigan and for contributing to the growth . . . — — Map (db m152886) HM
This town began as a trading post established by Rix Robinson in the 1820s. Robinson, an agent for the American Fur Company, used this as one of his leading western Michigan posts. The Reverend William M. Ferry came here in 1834 from Mackinac to . . . — — Map (db m89132) HM
Grand Haven treasures its relationship with the United States Coast Guard, and the annual Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is a celebrated tradition. What started in 1924 as a picnic and rowing competition among Coast Guard personnel has become a . . . — — Map (db m88933) HM
This depot was constructed in 1870 as the western terminus of the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railroad. The line was later owned by the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The station served Grand Haven as a passenger depot until passenger service . . . — — Map (db m88965) HM
This signal for many years guarded the east-end approach to the Grand Trunk Western Swing Bridge over the entrance to the Spring Lake channel.
This electrified signal with its colored lights indicated to the engineer of the train whether the . . . — — Map (db m4786) HM
Built in 1925 by Ogle Construction Co. of Chicago. Illinois.
All ladders, stairways and other steel hardware were stripped from the tower when it was removed from operation in the early 1950's.
In use, a hopper car of coal was spottedover . . . — — Map (db m4780) HM
This caboose of the Grand Trunk of Canada was of the 1894 design and was transferred to the Grand Trunk Western.
Early car department records indicate that it was rebuilt in 1925.
This all-wood caboose was used by the conductor as a . . . — — Map (db m4781) HM
Side 1
On May 10, 1886, the city of Grand Haven leased 60 acres of land to the newly founded and incorporated Highland Park Association for the purpose of establishing a resort community. Most of the 51 original members of the Association were . . . — — Map (db m89252) HM
In Memory of
those Coast Guard Men and Women around
the world that served at sea, on land and
in the air during all of our country's
conflicts since our founding in 1790.
More especially to those extraordinary
Coast Guard heroes that . . . — — Map (db m88858) WM
Khardomah Lodge
In 1873 lumberman James Brayton built a cottage here, which he and his wife named "Khardomah Lodge." Susan Hill Yerkes bought the property in 1919, adding thirteen rooms and converting the cottage to a summer hotel, thus . . . — — Map (db m89164) HM
Grand Haven has been an important base for life-saving on the Great Lakes. In the 1800s, vital transportation on the lakes was challenged by loss of life in storms and accidents. When Congress responded by forming the United States Life Saving . . . — — Map (db m153595) HM
Built by the Western Railroad Supply Company of Chicago, Illinois.
The Disappearing Banner Type Autoflag was designed to be placed at the side of the road, with the banner overhanging the roadway, plainly visible to approaching traffic.
This . . . — — Map (db m154227) HM
Ottawa County's courthouse has been in Grand Haven since 1836, in a series of buildings. The first courthouse shared a one-room building, built on Second Street in 1836, with a school and church. The first true county courthouse was built in 1857; . . . — — Map (db m153585) HM
Built in December, 1946 by the Ralston Steel Car Co. in Columbus, Ohio.
It was used for transportation of automobile parts, furniture, and general merchandise.
Later it was retired from service and used as a storage car in the Chesapeake . . . — — Map (db m4783) HM
Built in November, 1941 by the St. Louis Car Company of St. Louis, Missouri.
The caboose was truly a rolling office, complete with a coal stove, ice box, drinking water tank, sink and sleeping bunks.
The conductor used desk space provided . . . — — Map (db m4782) HM
Built by the Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio in November 1941. The boiler number is 7837.
This is one of two surviving steam engines of its type that were used in fast freight service between Chicago, Saginaw, Detroit and Toledo. Engine 1223 . . . — — Map (db m4785) HM
Text on the Front Side:
Shipwrecks and the Coast Guard
In Autumn 1929 raging storms sank four ships on Lake Michigan between Grand Haven and Milwaukee. Two went down with all hands - a total of seventy-seven men. The . . . — — Map (db m88945) HM
The Grand River riverfront has been many things. It was a bustling gateway to Lake Michigan for lumber and shipping in the 1800s. After years of neglect, in the 1950s it gained new life as a vital part of Grand Haven's downtown. In the early 1980s . . . — — Map (db m88811) HM
Text from the Top Plaque:
To
The Enlisted Men
of the
United States
Coast Guard
Who Have Given Their Lives
In Line of Duty
on Lake Michigan
This Memorial is Respectfully . . . — — Map (db m88893)
The 41 foot utility boat (UTB) was the workhorse of the Coast Guard for 36 years, functioning as the service's standard multipurpose near-shore platform. 172 were constructed by the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay Maryland between 1972 and 1978, and . . . — — Map (db m153598) HM
This Victorian Romanesque building
was designed and constructed by
James Huntley in 1898. It was originally
the site of the Van der Veen
clothing store and later Hansen Drug Store,
which occupied the building for almost
40 years. Faced with . . . — — Map (db m246684) HM
Constructed around 1875, this building
was the home of Van Putten's Book Store
as early as 1885. Lambertus Fris
purchased the property and renamed
the business The L. Fris Book Store
in 1900. A blend of several architectural
periods, the . . . — — Map (db m246686) HM
Constructed in 1892 by Ernest Herold
and Dr. Henry Kremers to accommodate the
Central Drug Store, this building has since
been the site of a wide variety of retail
businesses. The decorative oriel windows
and elaborate detailing evident in . . . — — Map (db m246679) HM
Utilizing the abundant supply of shoe leather tanned at the Cappon & Bertsch
tannery, the Holland Shoe Factory went into production on this site in 1902.
The building’s original cornerstone, on display below, was set in 1901. Within
a year, the . . . — — Map (db m246692) HM
In 1927, Lida Rogers, a biology teacher at Holland High School,
spoke to the Woman’s Literary Club about civic beauty. She proposed
that the citizens of Holland construct playgrounds, parks, and a skate pond,
and that we plant native trees and . . . — — Map (db m246676) HM
This property, purchased between 1895
and 1897, was the site of the Van Drezer
Restaurant and Hotel. The existing facade
was applied in the 1920s and is typical
of an American architectural style popular
among commercial buildings of that . . . — — Map (db m246680) HM
The Artist's Message
These works of art were installed at Unity Bridge on October 30, 2014 to celebrate the Greater Holland-Zeeland area's rich diversity. The five vertical elements of "Uniting Sun" appear to vary in sizes, but in fact, all are . . . — — Map (db m204487) HM
Obverse
In 1961 Castle Park resort owner Carter P. Brown proposed the idea of creating a public park with an "authentic Dutch windmill," a symbol of Holland's Dutch heritage. To do so. the city officials needed permission from the . . . — — Map (db m154379) HM
When the Reverend Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte and the first Dutch settlers came to Michigan in February 1847, they were aided by two Methodists who had settled earlier in the Holland area. George Harrington, Sr., brought the Dutch settlers from . . . — — Map (db m182090) HM
In 1848, in response to pressure from the settlers of Holland, the U.S. Congress created the community's first post office, with Henry D. Post as postmaster. Originally named Black River, the Holland post office relocated to rented quarters several . . . — — Map (db m64907) HM
An entertainment destination since 1911, the Knickerbocker has hosted many notable figures, including Harry Houdini and FDR. In the 1920s and 1930s the building was a venue for vaudeville performances and in later years was converted to a movie . . . — — Map (db m153217) HM
This Academic style building was constructed in 1925 by Henry Kraker, a well known Holland businessman. It was the site of the Kraker Hotel from 1926 until 1936. The interesting brick detailing and use of limestone are typical of this early 20th . . . — — Map (db m153218) HM
Hope College's NEA Big Read Lakeshore is a community-wide reading program that takes place annually in November. In collaboration with over 50 community partners, our Lakeshore community comes around a chosen book and use this shared experience . . . — — Map (db m204479) HM
Side 1
Dedicated on June 25, 1856, this church was built under the leadership of the Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder and the first pastor of the Holland colony. Jacobus Schrader designed the Greek Revival style building using native . . . — — Map (db m89287) HM
Built in 1930, this building was originally the site of Montgomery Ward Company. It also housed Vogelzang Hardware from 1960 through 1982 until the Outpost moved here in 1983. The structure’s exterior architectural detailing and terra-cotta facade . . . — — Map (db m153219) HM
This is an original piece of the old blades of our
windmill. The blades served De Zwaan from
the early 1900's through March of 2000.
This windmill was used as a lookout in the
Netherlands during World War II. If you look closely, you will be . . . — — Map (db m225662) HM
Isaac Cappon
Isaac Cappon (1830 - 1902) emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States in 1847. After a brief stay in Rochester, New York, he came to Michigan's Holland Colony in 1848. Here he worked as a laborer in a local tannery. In 1857 . . . — — Map (db m89286) HM
Originally the Holland City State Bank this Victorian Romanesque structure was built in 1892, under the leadership of J. Van Putten, bank president. The arcaded block was an architectural form often used to anchor business districts of the late . . . — — Map (db m153214) HM
This building was constructed in 1925 by the Holland Furnace Company whose company slogan was, “Holland furnaces make warm friends”. Notice the cozy “friends” at the top of the building. It operated as the Warm Friend Hotel and Tavern until 1981, . . . — — Map (db m153215) HM
In 1889 Frank W. Hadden, George P. Hummer and Frank Metz founded the West Michigan Furniture Company in Holland. The company produced only bedroom and dining room furniture, which was sold by a twenty-five-member sales force throughout the U.S. and . . . — — Map (db m114474) HM
In 1865, The Holland Church, the city's first Christian Reformed congregation, was founded. In 1866 the group bought this lot on what was then Market Street and moved a school here to use as a church. The following year the congregation built a new . . . — — Map (db m67736) HM
On February 9, 1847, the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte and a band of Hollanders founded the city of Holland. Within two years the other four original colonies--Graafschap, Zeeland, Vriesland, Overisel--had also been established. Plagued by illness . . . — — Map (db m55403) HM
In 1854, seven years after Dutch settlers came to this area, the Reformed Church in America established an English-language preaching mission in Holland. Principals from the Holland Academy, which became Hope College in 1866, served as early . . . — — Map (db m184274) HM
Side 1:
Under the leadership of the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of the Holland colony, the Third Reformed Church was organized on September 9, 1867. The first house of worship, measuring 90' long, 56' wide, and 32' high, was . . . — — Map (db m67571) HM
Noordeloos. A continuous arrival of immigrants from
the Netherlands in 1847 and 1848 dotted
the Black River region with a number of
distinct communities. Noordeloos, which
was named for its first pastor’s native
village, provided rich soil . . . — — Map (db m230004) HM
In 1847 Holland's founder, the Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte, purchased this property from the federal government for $2.32 an acre. When his son Benjamin returned from the Civil War in 1865, Van Raalte gave him the 160-acre tract. By 1873, when . . . — — Map (db m154392) HM
The city of Holland bought this lot in 1882, and contractor James Huntley began construction of a fire hall the next year. Completed in 1884, the building housed Holland's city offices and library until 1912 and served as a fire hall until 1978. . . . — — Map (db m68221) HM
In 1851, four years after settlers from the Netherlands founded Holland, the Pioneer School was established to meet some of the educational needs of the young colony. This school, the predecessor of Hope College, received direction and financial . . . — — Map (db m182003) HM
Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kremers commissioned local builder George Dalman to design and construct this house for them. Completed in 1889, the modified Elizabethan style dwelling was built primarily of native stone and locally manufactured brick. A . . . — — Map (db m182083) HM
Van Vleck Hall Side 1:
This building was named for the Reverend John Van Vleck, principal of the Holland Academy from 1855 to 1859. After the Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte raised the necessary funds for the building, Van Vleck designed and . . . — — Map (db m182017) HM
Theological training began here in 1866 when seven of the first eight graduates of Hope College petitioned the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America for such training. The request was granted and classes were begun, using the facilities . . . — — Map (db m181995) HM
Grace Episcopal Church
In August 1866 Manley Howard and Heber Walsh invited missionary Rev. Robert Wood to conduct an Episcopal service in Holland. Grace parish was organized the next year. The Rev. Joash Rice Taylor, its first rector, led . . . — — Map (db m182117) HM
The South Olive Christian
Reformed Church is a
daughter congregation of the
Noordeloos church. The
Noordeloos church and three
other local West Michigan
congregations seceded from
the Reformed Church in
America in 1857 to form the
Christian . . . — — Map (db m230068) HM
Holland Harbor Lighthouse
The first lighthouse built at this location was a small, square wooden structure erected in 1872. In 1880 the lighthouse service installed a new light atop a metal pole in a protective cage. The oil lantern was . . . — — Map (db m41967) HM
Ottawa Beach is a well - preserved
example of the summer cottage
resorts that developed along the
Lake Michigan shore during the late
nineteenth century. In 1885 the West
Michigan Park Association purchased
eighty acres of land here. In . . . — — Map (db m165345) HM
Originally an Electric Lighting
Plant, this building was
erected less than a decade
after Thomas Edison designed the first
practical dynamo to generate
electricity, which when coupled with
development of the steam-powered
turbine, made the . . . — — Map (db m165346) HM
Egbert H. Gold (1858-1928),
a Chicago industrialist and
inventor, acquired over one
hundred patents during his
lifetime. President of the
Chicago-based Vapor Car
Company, he devised a
heating system used by railroads. To build Marigold,
he . . . — — Map (db m230015) HM
In 1833 an Ottawa Indian village of
about 300 was located on Black Lake,
now Lake Macatawa. The village was led
by Chief Waukazoo, recognized by his
followers as a prophet and by local
settlers as an orator. The Ottawa
adopted many of the . . . — — Map (db m230014) HM
Located on rail and interurban lines
linking the west Michigan shore with
Chicago and Grand Rapids, Holland
has long been a tourist destination.
Beginning in the late nineteenth
century, vacationers erected summer
cottages at Central Park on . . . — — Map (db m230019) HM
In 1849, twelve area
settlers gathered at the
home of James Cronkright
to take the necessary
legal steps to have their
town separated from the
jurisdiction of Georgetown.
Of those first 12 voters,
one third of all present
were named . . . — — Map (db m229874) HM
This park is dedicated to
the men and women from
Jamestown Township who
served in the United States
Armed Forces. Special tribute
is paid to the following who sacrificed their
lives in the service of
our country.
World War I. Bert . . . — — Map (db m229877) WM
Jenison is named for a pioneer family of English descent. Lemuel Jenison, son of a Revolutionary War soldier, came to the Grand River Valley from New York in 1835 with his family. Among the seven children born to Lemuel and his wife Sara were four . . . — — Map (db m176437) HM
Holland Harbor (Side 1) When seeking a location for his Netherlands emigrant followers in 1847, the Reverend A.C. Van Raalte was attracted by the potential of using Black Lake (Lake Macatawa) as a harbor. However, the lake's outlet to . . . — — Map (db m67577) HM
Built in 1891, DeWitt School typifies the one-room schools of the turn of the century. It stands on an acre of land that was donated by the DeWitt and Bosch families. Classes for grades one through eight were held in it until 1957. At one time, a . . . — — Map (db m89161) HM
Hezekiah (1816-1896) and Lucinda
(1824-1884) Smith were free African
Americans who moved from Ohio to
Michigan and settled near Ferrysburg in
the 1840s. Hezekiah worked as
blacksmith and eventually became a
prominent landowner and farmer in . . . — — Map (db m229853) HM
Side 1
Winsor McCay (c.1867-1934), a pioneer in cartoon animation, first received acclaim for his artwork as a pupil in Spring Lake's Union School. His blackboard sketch of the 1880 wreck of the SS Alpena inspired a photographer to . . . — — Map (db m88985) HM
1869 Vriesland Reformed Church
The congregation of the 1869 Vriesland Reformed Church was organized in 1846 in the Netherlands. Led by the Reverend Maarten Anne Ypma, forty-nine adults and their children emigrated to the United States in . . . — — Map (db m182460) HM
Early in 1847 a group of Dutch families met in Goes, on the island of Zuid Beveland, and organized themselves into a congregation. With their pastor, the Reverend Cornelius Vander Meulen, the group sailed in three ships to America in search of . . . — — Map (db m182337) HM
Zeeland´s origin as a major center for the poultry industry dates from 1906, when farmer Douwe Wyngarden purchased two mail order incubators and started the area´s first commercial chicken hatchery. Thirty years later, with Zeeland hatcheries . . . — — Map (db m182412) HM
New Groningen
The village of New Groningen, which prospered in this area from 1855 to 1865, was the second colony established by a group of Dutch immigrants led by Jan Rabbers. The first settlement, Groningen, was located about one mile . . . — — Map (db m182330) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m182327) HM
P. Henry De Pree
The Dutch immigrant family of P. Henry De Pree (1865-1943) came to the Zeeland area in 1849. With his brother William, P. Henry ran a hardware store and other businesses in Zeeland and Holland. After being elected Zeeland . . . — — Map (db m182458) HM
Veneklasen Brick Company
In 1848 Jan Veneklasen and his family emigrated from the Netherlands to Zeeland, in Michigan’s Dutch Kolonie.
A brickmaker by trade, Veneklasen founded a brickyard within a year of his arrival – one . . . — — Map (db m111806) HM
Early Zeeland pioneers and prominent twentieth century figures are buried in Zeeland Cemetery. Dutch immigrants settled Zeeland in 1847 under the leadership of the Reverend Cornelius Vander Meulen and Jannes Vande Luyster. The city’s first cemetery, . . . — — Map (db m182417) HM
Est. Feb. 23, 1871
Founder
William Billy Clark
Billy named the town
Clay Center
Because at the time it was
the center of the township. — — Map (db m196388) HM
Early Jurassic (193 million years ago), 550 lbs., United States, Other dinosaurs & fish, 6 feet, 20 feet
Fast Facts
In the film Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus was depicted with a retractable frill and the ability to spit venom. However, . . . — — Map (db m248600) HM
The Pygmy goat is a breed of miniature domestic goat. Kept as pets primarily, they also work well as milk producers and working animals. The pygmy goat is quite hardy, an asset in a wide variety of settings, and can adapt to virtually all climates. . . . — — Map (db m248462) HM
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