Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S.
state of Michigan. As of the 2000
census, the city population was 197,800. The Grand Rapids Metropolitan
Statistical Area has a population of 774,084, with a Combined Statistical
Area of 1,320,487 as of the 2006 Census
Estimate[1]. It is the county
seat of Kent County, Michigan6. It is the second largest city in the state and is the principal city in
West Michigan.
History
Pearl Street, located downtown, c.
1885
Over 2,000 years ago, people associated with the Hopewell culture occupied the Grand
River Valley. Around 1700 A.D., the Ottawa Indians moved into the area and founded
several villages along the Grand River.
The Grand Rapids area was first settled by Europeans near the start of the 19th century by missionaries and fur traders, who generally lived in reasonable peace
alongside the Ottawa tribespeople, trading their European metal and textile goods for the
fur pelts. Joseph and Madeleine La Framboise established the first Indian/European trading post in West Michigan and in present Grand Rapids, on the banks of the Grand River near what is now
Ada. After the death of her husband in 1806, Madeleine La Framboise carried on,
expanding fur trading posts to the west and north. La Framboise, a mix of French and Indian descent, later merged her successful
operations with the American Fur Company and retired, at age 41, to
Mackinac Island. The first permanent white settler in the Grand Rapids area was a
Baptist minister named Isaac McCoy who arrived in 1825.
In 1826 Detroit-born Louis Campau, the official founder of Grand Rapids, built his
cabin, trading post, and blackmith shop on the east bank of the Grand River near the rapids. Campau returned to Detroit and came back a year later with his wife and $5,000 of trade goods to trade with the native
tribes. In 1831 the federal survey of the Northwest Territory reached the Grand River and set the boundaries for Kent County,
named after prominent New York jurist James Kent. Campau became perhaps the most important
settler when, in 1831, he bought 72 acres (291,000 m²) of what is now the entire downtown business district of Grand Rapids from
the federal government for $90 and named his tract Grand Rapids. Rival Lucius Lyon, who
purchased the rest of the prime land, called his the Village of Kent. Yankee immigrants and
others began immigrating from New York and New England in the 1830s.
In 1836 John Ball, representing a group of New York land speculators, bypassed
Detroit for a better deal in Grand Rapids. Ball declared the Grand River valley "the promised land, or at least the most
promising one for my operations."
By 1838 the settlement had incorporated as a village encompassing an area of approximately three-quarters of a mile (1 km) .
The first formal census occurred in 1845 which announced a population of 1,510 and recorded an area of four square miles. The
city of Grand Rapids was officially created on May 1 1850, when the
village of Grand Rapids voted to accept the proposed city charter. The population at the time was 2,686. By 1857, the city of
Grand Rapids' boundary totaled 10.5 square miles (27 km²).
Furniture City
During the second half of the 19th century the city became a major lumbering center and the
premier furniture manufacturing city of the United
States. For this reason it was nicknamed "Furniture City". After an international exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876,
Grand Rapids became recognized worldwide as a leader in the production of fine furniture. National home furnishing markets were
held in Grand Rapids for about 75 years, concluding in the 1960s. Today, Grand Rapids is considered a world leader in the
production of office furniture.
The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad began passenger and freight
service to Cedar Springs, Michigan on December
25 1867. This railroad expanded service from Grand Rapids to Muskegon, northern Michigan and
into Indiana and Ohio over the next few decades.
In 1880, the country's first hydro-electric generator was put to use on the city's west side[2]. With the new century, the people of Grand Rapids numbered 82,565. In 1916
the citizens of Grand Rapids voted to adopt a home rule charter that abolished the old aldermanic systems and replaced it with a
commission-manager form of government, one of the first in the country. That 1916 Charter, although amended several times, is
still in effect.
Grand Rapids was a home to the first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States when Stout Air Services began
flights from Grand Rapids to Detroit (actually Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan) on
July 31 1926.
In 1945, Grand Rapids became the first city in the United States to add fluoride
to its drinking water.
Downtown Grand Rapids used to host four department stores: Herpolsheimer's (Lazarus in 1987), Jacobson's, Steketee's (founded in 1862), and Wurzburg's. Like most downtown regional
department stores, they suffered the same fate of falling sales, caused largely by the flight to the suburbs, and consolidation
in the 1980s and 1990s.
Geography and climate
Grand Rapids sits on the banks of the Grand River, where there was once a set
of rapids, at an altitude of feet ( m) above sea level. It is approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of Lake Michigan. The state capital of Lansing lies about 60 miles
(100 km) to the east-by-southeast, and Kalamazoo is about 50 miles (80 km) to the
south.
Grand Rapids is divided into four quadrants which form a part of mailing addresses in the
city. The quadrants are NE (northeast), NW (northwest), SE (southeast), and SW (southwest). Fulton Street serves as the
north-south dividing line, while Division Avenue serve as the east-west dividing line separating these quadrants.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 45.3 sq mi (117.4 km²). 44.6 sq mi
(115.6 km²) of it is land and 0.7 sq mi (1.8 km², 1.50%) of it is water (primarily the Grand River).
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Rec High °F |
62 |
69 |
78 |
88 |
92 |
98 |
100 |
100 |
93 |
87 |
77 |
69 |
| Norm High °F |
29.3 |
32.6 |
43.3 |
56.6 |
69.6 |
78.4 |
82.3 |
79.7 |
71.7 |
59.6 |
45.5 |
33.7 |
| Norm Low °F |
15.6 |
17.4 |
25.9 |
36.1 |
46.6 |
55.8 |
60.5 |
59 |
51 |
40.2 |
31.2 |
21.4 |
| Rec Low °F |
-22 |
-19 |
-8 |
3 |
22 |
33 |
41 |
39 |
27 |
18 |
5 |
-18 |
| Precip (in) |
2.03 |
1.54 |
2.59 |
3.48 |
3.35 |
3.67 |
3.56 |
3.78 |
4.28 |
2.8 |
3.35 |
2.7 |
| Source: USTravelWeather.com [1] |
Demographics
As of the census of 2000[3], there were 197,800 people, 73,217 households, and 44,369 families residing in the city. The
population density was 4,431.2/sq mi (1,710.8/km²). There were 77,960 housing
units at an average density of 1,746.5/sq mi (674.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.30% White American (62.5% non-Hispanic White), 20.41% African
American, 0.74% Native American, 1.62%
Asian American, 0.12% Pacific Islander
American, 6.63% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. 13.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city had a foreign-born population of
10.5%.
There were 73,217 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.3% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were
non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from
45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,224, and the median income for a family was $44,224. Males had a median
income of $33,050 versus $26,382 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$17,661. 15.7% of the population and 11.9% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty,
19.4% are under the age of 18 and 10.4% are 65 or older.
Government and politics
Like the surrounding counties, the Grand Rapids area has traditionally been a stronghold for the Republican Party, but the city itself leans Democratic.
The city is the center of the 3rd Congressional District, represented by Republican Vern
Ehlers. Former President Gerald
Ford represented the district from 1949 to 1974. Ford died on December 26,
2006 at his home in Palm Springs, California, and was buried on the grounds of his Presidential
Museum in Grand Rapids on January 3, 2007.
Grand Rapids (including the suburbs of Ada, East Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville, Walker, and Kentwood) also serves as the
home business base of one of the largest past political funders of the national Republican Party, Richard and Helen De Vos, and
former Ambassador to Italy, Peter Secchia.
However, despite Grand Rapids' reputation for conservatism, the city tends to elect Democrats. Both of its representatives in
the Michigan State House of Representatives are Democrats, and in the
past two presidential elections Democratic candidates Al Gore and John Kerry won the majority of votes in the city of Grand
Rapids.
Commission-Manager plan
Under Michigan law, Grand Rapids is a home rule city and adopted a
city charter in 1916 providing for the Commission-Manager form of
municipal government. Under this system, the political responsibilities are divided
between an elected City Commission and a hired full-time City Manager. Two part-time Commissioners are elected to four-year terms
from each of three wards, with half of these seats up for election every two years. The part-time Mayor is elected every four
years by the city at large, and serves as chair of the Commission, with a vote equal to that of a Commissioner. The races—held in
odd-numbered years—are formally non-partisan, although the party and other political affiliations of candidates do sometimes come
up during the campaign period. The Commission sets policy for the city, and is responsible for hiring the City Manager and other
appointed officials [2].
Mayor
George Heartwell was elected mayor of Grand Rapids after long-serving mayor John H.
Logie declined to run for re-election in 2003. Logie felt the position should be made full-time, but to avoid the question
becoming a referendum on whether he should hold the job full-time, he announced that he would not run for re-election. The
voters decided to keep the position part-time, and Heartwell was elected.
Heartwell assumed office on January 1 2004. Prior to being
mayor, Heartwell was a City Commissioner for the third ward, 1992-1999. Heartwell currently serves as President and CEO of
Pilgrim Manor Retirement Community. He was Director of the Community Leadership Institute at Aquinas College, where he also was a professor in the Community Leadership undergraduate
study program. Mayor Heartwell is an ordained minister for the United Church of
Christ, and served for 14 years at Heartside Ministry, a program for the homeless in Grand
Rapids. He was previously the president of Heartwell Mortgage Corporation [3].
In August, 2007, Mayor Heartwell was re-elected to a second mayoral term in Grand Rapids. He won the primary election with 51%
of the vote.
- See also: List of mayors of
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Economy
Grand Rapids has long been a center for furniture and automobile manufacturing; however, the presence of both industries has
declined in the region along with manufacturing in general. American Seating,
Steelcase and Herman Miller, major manufacturers of
office furniture, are based in the Grand Rapids area.
In 1880, Sligh Furniture Company started manufacturing furniture.[4] In 1881, the Furniture Manufacturers Association (FMA) was organized in Grand Rapids, it was
apparently the first furniture manufacturing advocacy group in the country.[5] Also Since 1912, Kindel Furniture Company,[6] and since 1922, the Hekman/Woodmark Furniture Company,[7] have been designing and manufacturing traditional American furniture in
Grand Rapids. All of these companies are still producing furniture today.
More recently the city has had some success in developing and attracting businesses focusing on the health sciences, with facilities such as the Van Andel Research Institute
(primarily focused on cancer research), Grand Valley State University's
Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences (undergraduate and graduate medical programs, doctorate program in Physical Therapy), and
Michigan State University's planned medical school, adjacent to GVSU's
Cook-DeVos Center and Spectrum Health's Butterworth Hospital.This year, several million dollars will be spent on new hospitals,
medical reaserch centers and health facilities.
The Grand Rapids area is also home to a number of well known companies that include; Alticor/Amway (a consumer goods manufacturer and distributor), Foremost Insurance
Company (a home and auto insurer), Meijer (a Supercenter
chain), Smiths Industries (an Aerospace products
company), Wolverine World Wide (a designer and manufacter of shoes, boots and
clothing), and Universal Forest Products (a building materials company).
The city is also known as a center of Christian publishing, home to Zondervan, Baker
Books and Eerdmans Publishing.
The surrounding area is noted for its fruit production. Due to its close proximity to
Lake Michigan the climate is considered prime for apple,
peach, and blueberry farming.
In recent years, the convention business has seen an increase following the construction of the DeVos Place Convention Center.
Education
Grand Rapids is home to several colleges and universities. Aquinas
College, Calvin College, Kuyper College, and Cornerstone University are private, religious schools, each with a campus within the city.
Grand Rapids Community College maintains a campus downtown and facilities
in other parts of the city and surrounding region. Grand Valley State
University continues to develop its presence in the city with an expanding downtown campus, begun in the late 1990s on the
west bank of the Grand River. Ferris State University has a growing campus
downtown, including the Applied Technology Center (operated with GRCC) and the prestigious Kendall College of Art and Design. Thomas M. Cooley Law School, a private institution, has a campus in Grand Rapids.
Davenport University, a state-wide educational institution, has its main campus in
Grand Rapids. Western Michigan University has a long-standing graduate
program in the city, with facilities downtown and in the southeast. Clinical
Pastoral Education is also offered at Pine Rest Christian
Mental Health Services in nearby Cutlerville, Michigan.
K-12 public education is provided by the Grand Rapids Public Schools as
well as a number of charter schools.
As of 2006, there is an active movement among community leaders to have Michigan
State University open a new medical school in Grand Rapids.[4]. Michigan State University West Michigan Medical School will be MSU's second
fully accredited four-year medical school, and will be located in Downtown Grand Rapids.
Culture
The Van Andel Museum Center
Beginning with the installation of Alexander Calder's abstract sculpture La
Grande Vitesse, the city has been host to the annual Festival of the
Arts downtown since 1970, known to locals simply as Festival. During the first weekend in June, several blocks
of downtown surrounding the Calder stabile in
Vandenberg Plaza are closed to traffic. Festival features several stages with free
live performances, food booths selling a variety of ethnic cuisine, art demonstrations and sales, and other arts-related
activities. Organizers bill it as the largest all-volunteer arts festival in the United States. Vandenberg Plaza also hosts various ethnic festivals that take place throughout the summer
season.
Summer concludes with Celebration on the Grand the weekend after
Labor Day featuring free concerts, West Michigan's largest fireworks display
and food booths. Celebration on the Grand is an all volunteer event to
celebrate life in the Grand River valley.
In Grand Rapids in 1973, Main Street America celebrated mainstream art, as the city hosted Sculpture off the Pedestal,
an exemplar of public sculpture exhibitions, which assembled 13 world-renowned artists, including Mark di Suvero, John Henry, Kenneth
Snelson, Robert Morris, John
Mason and Stephen Antonakos, in a single, citywide celebration. Sculpture off the
Pedestal was a public/private partnership, which included financial support by the National Endowment for the Arts, educational support from the Michigan Council for the Arts and in-kind contributions from individuals, business and industry. Fund-raising
events, volunteers and locals housing artists contributed to the public character of the event.
In mid-2004, the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) began construction on a new, larger building
for its art museum collection, which opened in October, 2007 at 101 Monroe Center NW. The new building site faces downtown's
Ecliptic by Maya Lin at Rosa Parks Circle.
Sites of interest
The Wealthy Street Theatre
Grand Rapids is the home of John Ball Park, Belknap
Hill, and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, the final resting place
of the 38th President of the United States. Significant buildings in the downtown include the DeVos Place Convention Center, Van Andel Arena,
the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, and now the JW Marriott Hotel. The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts is located downtown, and houses art exhibits, a movie theater, and the urban
clay studio.
Along the Grand River are symbolic burial
mounds which were used by the Hopewell tribe, a fish ladder, and a riverwalk which includes a monument to
fluoridation.
Grand Rapids is also home to the Van Andel Museum Center. Founded in
1854, it is among the oldest history museums in the United States. The museum's sites currently
include the main site constructed in 1994 on the west bank of the Grand River (home to the Roger B. Chaffee
Planetarium, the Voight House Victorian Museum, and the City
Archives and Records Center, which was the site of the museum and planetarium prior to 1994. The museum has, in the past
few years, played host to a handful of notable exhibitions, including the Dead Sea
Scrolls, and The Quest for Immortality: the Treasures of Ancient Egypt. The museum is set
up as a non-profit institution owned and managed by the Public Museum of Grand Rapids Foundation.
The City also has many intriguing places to visit, such as Heritage Hill, the first historic district to be founded in the United
States.
Heritage Hill, a neighborhood east of downtown, is one of the largest Urban Historic
Districts in the country, with over 1000 Victorian homes. Of particular
significance is the Meyer May House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908 was commissioned by local merchant Meyer
May who operated a men's clothing store (May's of Michigan). The house is now a free
museum owned and operated by Steelcase who restored the property in the 1980s.
Grand Rapids is home to a myriad of theatres and stages, including the newly-reconstructed Civic Theatre (also known as the
Meijer Majestic), the city's largest theatre DeVos hall, and the convertible Van Andel Arena. Further east of downtown is the
historic Wealthy Street Theatre.
In Grand Rapids Township, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and
Sculpture Park combine acres ( ha) of world-class botanical gardens and artwork from such sculptors as
Mark di Suvero, Alexander Calder,
Edgar Degas, and Auguste Rodin. The Gardens'
amphitheatre plays host to numerous concerts each summer, featuring such eccelctic acts as Jonny
Lang, The Pointer Sisters, Lyle Lovett,
Cowboy Junkies, and B.B. King. As Michigan's second
most popular destination (after The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn), the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is rapidly gaining national renown.
Printed Media
The Grand Rapids Press is the daily newspaper, while the "Advance" group of weekly papers provides more community-based news.
Gemini Publications is a niche, regional
publishing company that produces the weekly newspaper Grand
Rapids Business Journal, the magazines Grand Rapids
Magazine, Grand Rapids Family and Michigan Blue, and several other quarterly and annual
business-to-business publications.
Television
The Grand Rapids area is home to several television stations, and is the second largest television market in Michigan.
Stations serving the area include WWMT (CBS, actually licensed to
Kalamazoo), WOOD (NBC), WZZM (ABC), and
WXMI (Fox). Other stations include
WOTV, an ABC affiliate licensed to
Battle Creek, WZPX (ION), and WTLJ (TCT). WXSP, is a low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate. With the merger of UPN and The WB Television Network into The CW Television
Network WXSP lost its affiliation with UPN, the CW is now carried on a separate digital
broadcast by WWMT. WGVU is the area's PBS
member station, along with satellite station WGVK. Grand Rapids
Internet Television produces local, independent programming available on-line only.
The city has two public access televisions, GRTV and
LiveWire that offer independent programming and
news for the city. These two outlets are both produced by the Community Media Center, a cooperative of public access, nonprofit media affiliates. Two Educational Access Channels
and a Governmental Access Channel, the Grand Rapids Information Network (GRIN) are also available on cable. Similarly, the website Media Mouse [5] provides
internet-based progressive independent media. GRNow [6] is also another online site providing independent media.
Radio
The Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area has a diverse variety of radio stations.
- 88.1 WYCE Grand Rapids- Folk/Blues/Jazz/Rock/World Beat
- 88.5 WGVU Allendale - Public/NPR/Jazz/Blues "West Michigan Public Radio"
- 88.9/90.3 WBLU/WBLV Grand Rapids/Muskegon - Classical "Blue Lake Public Radio"
- 89.1 WIDR Kalamazoo - College "Your Station for Radio Evolution"
- 89.3 WGNB Zeeland - Religious "Moody Broadcasting Network"
- 89.9/88.3 WAYG/WAYK Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo - Contemporary Christian "Way FM", Commercial
Free
- 90.7 W214AY Walker - Religious "Calvary Satellite Network"
- 91.3 WCSG Grand Rapids - Religious "Family Friendly, Commercial Free"
- 92.3 WZUU Allegan - Classic Rock "92.3 the Zoo"
- 92.5 WLAW Newaygo - Country
- 92.7 WYVN Saugatuck - Classic Hits "92.7 the Van"
- 93.7 WBCT Grand Rapids - Country "B-93" WBCT: America's most powerful radio station (320,000
watts)
- 94.5 WTNR Holland - Country "Thunder 94-5"
- 95.3 WBCK Battle Creek - Talk Radio"
- 95.7 WLHT Grand Rapids - Adult Contemporary "W-Lite"
- 96.1 WMAX Holland - Hot Adult Contemporary (Modern AC-leaning) "96.1 Max FM"
- 96.5 WFAT Portage - Classic Hits "96.5 WFAT"
- 96.9 WLAV Grand Rapids - Classic Rock "97 LAV"
- 97.9 WGRD Grand Rapids - Alternative "Grand Rapids' Rock Alternative"
- 98.5/95.5 WNWN/W238AL Coldwater/Portage - Country "Win 98.5"
- 98.7/98.3 WFGR/WLCS Grand Rapids/North Muskegon - Oldies "Oldies 98"
- 99.3 WJQK Zeeland - Contemporary Christian "JQ99 FM"
- 100.1 WBCH Hastings - Country "World's Best Country Hits"
- 100.5 WTRV Walker - Adult Contemporary "The River"
- 100.9 WQXC Otsego - Oldies "Cool 101"
- 101.3 WBFX Grand Rapids - Classic Rock "101 The Fox"
- 101.7 WMRR Muskegon - Classic Rock "Total Rock 101.7"
- 102.1 WMUK Kalamazoo - Public/Variety "Kalamazoo Public Radio"
- 102.9 WFUR Grand Rapids - Religious "Christian Radio"
- 104.1 WVGR Grand Rapids via Ann Arbor - Public/News-Talk "Michigan Radio" WVGR: Broadcasts with 108,000 watts and in mono
- 104.5 WSNX Muskegon - Contemporary Hits "Continuous Hit Music"
- 104.9 WBXX Battle Creek - Adult Contemporary "Soft Rock 104.9"
- 105.3 WHTS Coopersville/Grand Rapids - Hot AC/Adult CHR "Hot 105.3" WHTS
- 105.7 WOOD Grand Rapids - Adult Contemporary "Star 105.7" WOOD: broadcasts with 265,000
watts
- 106.3 WSCG Lakeview - Classic Country "Classic Hit Country 106.3"
- 106.5 WQLR Kalamazoo - Adult Contemporary "Q-106.5 FM"
- 106.9 WMUS Muskegon - Country "107 MUS"
- 107.3 WKLQ Greenville - Active Rock "West Michigan's Pure Rock"
- 107.7 WRKR Portage - Rock "The Rocker"
- 107.9 WSHZ Muskegon - Adult Contemporary "Star 108"
- 1140AM WJNZ Grand Rapids - Urban Adult Contemporary (Tom Joyner Morning Show/The Pulse Of The
City/Talk Show).
- 1300AM WOOD Grand Rapids Talk
- 1340AM WBBL Grand Rapids Sports
- 1480AM WGVU Kentwood - Public/NPR/News- Talk "West Michigan Public Radio"
- 1230AM Grand Rapids Talk
- 640AM Grand Rapids Sports,Health,Urban Talk
Sports
Several professional sports teams call Grand Rapids home:
Transportation
Public bus transportation is provided by the Interurban Transit
Partnership, which brands itself as The Rapid. Transportation is also provided by the DASH buses: the "Downtown
Area Shuttle". These provide transportation to and from the parking lots in the city of Grand Rapids to various designated
loading and unloading spots around the city.
Commercial air service to Grand Rapids is provided by Gerald R. Ford
International Airport (GRR). Previously named Kent County International Airport, it holds Grand Rapids' mark in modern
history with the United States' first regularly scheduled airline service, beginning July 31, 1926, between Grand Rapids and
Detroit.
Amtrak provides direct train service to Chicago from the passenger station
via the Pere Marquette line.
Several major highways serve the city, including:
Sister cities
Grand Rapids has city partnerships with the following cities:
Notable current/former residents
