On February 9, 1847, Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte chose a site on Michigan's Black River and founded what became Holland. Motivated in part by a potato famine and crop failures, the settlers also sought religious freedom. Other countrymen followed, leaving an indelible mark on the character of southwest Michigan. Jan Douma and Matteus Notier, Union soldiers from Graafschap, guarded the bier of slain president Abraham Lincoln. Newbery Medal-winning children's author Meindert DeJong came from Grand Rapids, as did Caldecott Medalist Chris Van Allsburg. The legacy includes Hope, Calvin, and Kuyper...
On February 9, 1847, Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte chose a site on Michigan's Black River and founded what became Holland. Motivated in part by a potato...
Wyoming, Michigan, became a city in 1959, the same year Alaska and Hawaii became states, but its history began more than a century earlier. The first permanent settlers came in 1832, and in 1848 the region split, with the northern portion becoming Wyoming and the southern Byron Center. Wyoming flourished. The farmers came first with the businesses that supported them, and industry followed. The various gypsum mines were among the earliest arrivals. General Motors built a stamping plant on Thirty-sixth Street that helped pull the township out of the Great Depression in 1936. It was a success,...
Wyoming, Michigan, became a city in 1959, the same year Alaska and Hawaii became states, but its history began more than a century earlier. The first ...
