Early City of Grand Rapids
1.
How the City began 160 years ago still impacts us today.
In order to understand these original maps today, street name changes are in blue, site references are in red.
The Village of Grand Rapids was surveyed in 1833 for Tousaut Campau, the brother of Louis.
Since the river was their main mode of transportation, it was the French style to make most streets end at the river. They also followed Indian trails that went around obstacles. Monroe Avenue was an Indian Trail that skirted the bottom of Prospect Hill.
Prospect Hill was torn down and used to fill in the east channel of the river. Today the water that still runs in the east channel under the Grand Plaza Hotel has to be pumped up and over to be dumped into the still existing west branch.
The Village of Kent was registered in 1836 for Lucius Lyon from NY. Streets were platted in the English style of due North or South with 90 degree turns, regardless of terrain. It surrounded the Village of Grand Rapids.
Since Lucius and Louis feuded, much like the English and French did, the Village of Grand Rapids and the Village of Kent did not connect until William T Powers owner of Powers Opera House (Midtown Movie Theater) deeded a walkway behind his business connecting the two towns
Called the Arcade when I was a kid it was used for selling men's merchandise, it still exists today as a sidewalk just east of Flannigan's Bar on Pearl Street
The Belknap Park Bluff except for the Water Reservoir was torn down and used for fill dirt for I-196.
Today’s Belknap Park, now street level, began as the first cemetery in Grand Rapids. Now it’s a tennis court.
3.
The Village of West Grand Rapids was surveyed in 1843 for James Scribner
and
Eliphalet Turner just north of the Indian mission land.
GRPL73-1-22
Hart The
Baptist Mission closed in 1835 yet in 1842 the Baptists attempted to sell the
entire
Mission
Reserve keeping $6000 for themselves and leaving $300 for the Catholics.
Mr.Coggeshall
represented the Baptists. The Catholics
objected and in 1843 the land was
sold to local businessmen,
with $12,000 to the Baptists and $8,000
to the Catholics.
Mr. Coggeshall's Addition
which covered the Indian Mission Lands was replated
in 1856
by
Mr. Converse..
City Engineer's Records
Hart, Henry, Civil Engineer and Architect, 1853 Map
of the City of Grand Rapids, Publisher: Sarony &
Major, New York. FF (flat file).IV.A.
Michigan Room
McGee, John, Catholic Church in the Grand River Valley
GRPL M28.774 M172 non-circulating, for a circulating copy
see EGR 282McG
State of Michigan; Dept of Energy, Labor and
Economic Growth; Bureau of Construction Codes; File of Plats; 1909-1911.
Thomas Porter Papers, Collection #42
I have tried to impact every source with corrections or comments so everything on this site is copyrighted. The information may be used for your project but the source must be cited.
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