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Do not fill this in! ==History== {{Main|History of Grand Rapids, Michigan}} === Nineteenth century: Native American and European-American settlement === ==== Trading post ==== After the French established territories in Michigan, [[Jesuit]] missionaries and traders traveled down Lake Michigan and its tributaries.<ref name="HISTORYlowell">{{cite web |title = A Brief History of Lowell |url = http://kent.migenweb.net/towns/lowell/1931/history.html |website = Kent County Michigan GenWeb Project |publisher = [[Kent County, Michigan|County of Kent]] |access-date = October 2, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161002190841/http://kent.migenweb.net/towns/lowell/1931/history.html |archive-date = October 2, 2016 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> In 1806, white trader Joseph La Framboise and his [[Métis]] wife, [[Magdelaine Laframboise|Madeline La Framboise]], traveled by canoe from [[Mackinac Island]] and established the first trading post in [[West Michigan]] in present-day Grand Rapids on the banks of the [[Grand River (Michigan)|Grand River]], near what is now [[Ada Township, Michigan|Ada Township]], the junction of the Grand and [[Thornapple River]]s. They were French-speaking and [[Roman Catholic]]. They likely both spoke [[Odawa]], Magdelaine's maternal ancestral language. In the fall of 1806, Joseph was fatally stabbed by a member of the [[Potawatomi]] tribe named Nequat. Joseph had been with his family and an entourage of voyageurs traveling between Grand River and Grand Rapids. The Potawatomi man had insisted that Joseph trade liquor with him. When Joseph refused, the man left, only to return at dusk when Joseph, who faithfully performed the ritual of [[Angelus]] every day at that time, was in prayer. Nequat stabbed the trader, fatally wounding him, leaving Joseph's wife, Magdelaine, a [[widow]] at age twenty-four.<ref name="Joseph LaFramboise: A factor of tre">{{cite journal |last1=Timmerman |first1=Janet |title=Joseph LaFramboise: A factor of treaties, trade, and culture |date=2009 }}</ref> The next spring, a delegation from the Potawatomi tribe brought the offender, Nequat, before Magdelaine for her sentence upon him for the death of her husband. It was their tradition for the victim's family to avenge deaths within that tribe. Magdelaine refused to sentence him and, in an act of forgiveness, told the Potawatomi tribe members to let him go and that God would be his judge. Though Magdelaine had forgiven Nequat, the tribe had not. Nequat's body was found stabbed with his own knife the next season.<ref name="Joseph LaFramboise: A factor of tre"/> After the murder of her husband in 1806 while en route to Grand Rapids, Magdelaine La Framboise carried on the trade business, expanding fur trading posts to the west and north, creating a good reputation among the [[American Fur Company]]. La Framboise, whose mother was Odawa and father French, later merged her successful operations with the American Fur Company.<ref name="HISTORYlowell"/> ====Native American settlement==== By 1810, [[Chief Noonday]],or Nowaquakezick, an Odawa chief, established the village of Bock-a-tinck (from ''Baawiting'', "at the rapids") on the northwest side of present-day Grand Rapids near Bridge Street with about 500 Odawa, though the population would grow to over 1,000 on occasion.<ref name="HISTORY1881">{{cite book |title = History of Kent County, Michigan |date = December 1881 |publisher = Chas. C. Chapman & Co. |location = Chicago, Illinois |url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad0958.0001.001/7?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image |access-date = October 2, 2016 |via = University of Michigan Libraries |archive-date = November 26, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161126083755/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad0958.0001.001/7?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="WILD" /> During the [[War of 1812]], Noonday was allied with [[Tecumseh]] during the [[Battle of the Thames]]. Tecumseh was killed in this battle, and Noonday inherited his tomahawk and hat.<ref name="MSU">{{cite web |url = http://michiganhistory.leadr.msu.edu/chief-noonday/ |title = Chief Nawehquageezhik Noonday |publisher = MSU |access-date = July 17, 2019 |archive-date = July 17, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190717200518/http://michiganhistory.leadr.msu.edu/chief-noonday/ |url-status = live }}</ref> A second village existed lower down the river with its center located at the intersection of what is now Watson Street and National Avenue, with Chief Black Skin – known by his native name recorded as Muck-i-ta-oska or Mukatasha (from ''Makadewazhe'' or ''Mkadewzhe'', "Have Black Skin") and was son of Chief Noonday – leading the village.<ref name="WILD" /> ==== European settlement ==== In 1820, General [[Lewis Cass]], who was on his way to negotiate the first [[Treaty of Chicago#1821 Treaty of Chicago|Treaty of Chicago]] with a group of 42 men, commissioned [[Charles Christopher Trowbridge]] to establish missions for Native Americans in the Grand River Valley, in hopes of evangelizing them.<ref name="HISTORY1870">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bad0957.0001.001.umich.edu |title=History and Directory of Kent County, Michigan, Containing a History of Each Township, and the City of Grand Rapids; the Name, Location and Postoffice Address of All Residents Outside of the City: A List of Postoffices in the County; a Schedule of Population; and Other Valuable Statistics |date=November 21, 1870 |publisher=Daily Eagle Steam Printing House |location=Grand Rapids, MI |pages=114–136 <!-- |access-date = September 28, 2016-->}}</ref><ref name=WILD>{{Cite book |last1=Simon-Tibbe |first1=Dorothy |title=Wilderness to Wyoming |last2=Branz |first2=Bill |last3=White |first3=Kelly |publisher=Franklin Press, Inc. |year=2009 |isbn=9780578028583 |edition=1 |location=[[Wyoming, Michigan]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1821, the [[Council of Three Fires]] signed the first [[Treaty of Chicago#1821 Treaty of Chicago|Treaty of Chicago]], ceding to the United States all lands in Michigan Territory south of the Grand River, except for several small reservations, and required a native to prepare land in the area to establish a mission.<ref name="WILD" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=September 26, 1833 – Treaty of Chicago |url=https://www.fcpotawatomi.com/culture-and-history/treaties/september-26-1833-treaty-of-chicago/ |access-date=August 8, 2020 |website=Forest County Potawatomi |archive-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812205919/https://www.fcpotawatomi.com/culture-and-history/treaties/september-26-1833-treaty-of-chicago/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The treaty also included "One hundred thousand dollars to satisfy sundry individuals, in behalf of whom reservations were asked, which the Commissioners refused to grant" of which Joseph La Framboise received 1,000 dollars immediately and 200 dollars a year, for life.<ref name=":5" /> Madeline La Framboise retired the trading post to [[Rix Robinson]] in 1821 and returned to Mackinac.<ref name="HISTORYlowell" /> That year, Grand Rapids was described as being the home of an Odawa village of about 50 to 60 huts on the north side of the river near the 5th Ward, with Kewkishkam being the village chief and Chief Noonday being the chief of the Odawa.<ref name="HISTORY1870" /> The first permanent European-American settler in the Grand Rapids area was [[Isaac McCoy]], a [[Baptist]] minister.<ref name="HISTORY1870" /> In 1823, McCoy, Paget, a Frenchman who brought along a Native American pupil, and a government worker traveled to Grand Rapids from Carey Mission near present-day [[Niles, Michigan]] to arrange a mission they called the "Thomas Mission", though negotiations fell through with the group returning to the Carey Mission for the Potawatomi on the [[St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)|St. Joseph River]].<ref name="HISTORY1870" /><ref name="WILD" /> The government worker stayed into 1824 to establish a blacksmith shop, though the shop was burned down by the Odawa.<ref name="WILD" /> Later in May 1824, Baptist missionary Reverend Leonard Slater traveled with two settlers to Grand Rapids to perform missionary work, though the group began to return to the Carey Mission after only three days due to threats.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/><ref name="WILD" /> While the group was returning, they encountered Chief Noonday who asked for the group to stay and establish a mission, believing that the Odawa adapting to European customs was the only chance for them to stay in the area.<ref name="WILD" /> The winter of 1824 was difficult, with Slater's group having to resupply and return before the spring.<ref name="WILD" /><ref name="HISTORY1870"/> Chief Noonday, deciding to be an example for the Odawa, chose to be baptized by Slater in the Grand River, though some of his followers believed that this was a wrestling match between the two that Slater won.<ref name="WILD" /> Slater then erected the first settler structures in Grand Rapids, a log cabin for himself and a log schoolhouse.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> In 1825, McCoy returned and established a missionary station.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Goss |first = Dwight |title = The Indians of the Grand River Valley |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSLiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA178 |journal = Michigan Historical Collections |volume = 30 |pages = 178–80 |year = 1906 |via = Google Books }}</ref> He represented the settlers who began arriving from Ohio, New York and New England, the Yankee states of the Northern Tier.[[File:Grand Rapids 1831.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A sketch of Grand Rapids in 1831. The collection of houses across the river on its west side is the Baptist mission. The three buildings in the middle right are Louis Campau's trading post.]] Shortly after, Detroit-born [[Louis Campau]], known as the official founder of Grand Rapids, was convinced by fur trader William Brewster, who was in a rivalry with the American Fur Company, to travel to Grand Rapids and establish trade there.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> In 1826, Campau built his cabin, trading post, and blacksmith shop on the south bank of the Grand River near the rapids, stating the Native Americans in the area were "friendly and peaceable".<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> Campau returned to [[Detroit]], then returned a year later with his wife and $5,000 of trade goods to trade with the Odawa and Ojibwa, with the only currency being fur.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> Campau's younger brother Touissant would often assist him with trade and other tasks at hand.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> [[Lucius Lyon]], a Yankee Protestant who would later become a rival to Campau, was contracted by the federal government to survey the Grand River Valley in the fall of 1830 and in the first quarter of 1831. The federal survey of the [[Northwest Territory]] reached the Grand River, with Lyon using a [[surveyor's compass]] and [[Surveyor's chain|chain]] to set the boundaries for Kent County, named after prominent New York jurist [[James Kent (jurist)|James Kent]].<ref name="HISTORY1870" /><ref name="WILD" /> In 1833, a land office was established in [[White Pigeon, Michigan]], with Campau and fellow settler Luther Lincoln seeking land in the Grand River valley.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> Lincoln purchased land in what is now known as [[Grandville, Michigan|Grandville]], while Campau became perhaps the most important settler when he bought 72 acres (291,000 m<sup>2</sup>) from the federal government for $90 and named his tract Grand Rapids. Over time, it developed as today's main downtown business district.<ref name="Grand Rapids Historical Perspective">{{cite web |url = http://grcity.us/city-clerk/Pages/Grand-Rapids-Historical-Perspective.aspx |title = Grand Rapids Historical Perspective |year = 2008 |publisher = City of Grand Rapids |access-date = August 20, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140606231958/http://grcity.us/city-clerk/Pages/Grand-Rapids-Historical-Perspective.aspx |archive-date = June 6, 2014 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> In the spring of 1833, Campau sold to Joel Guild, who traveled from New York, a plot of land for $25.00, with Guild building the first frame structure in Grand Rapids, which is now where [[McKay Tower]] stands.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/><ref name=Mlive1>{{cite news |last1 = Ellison |first1 = Garret |title = McKay Tower in Grand Rapids Quietly Sold to Borisch Family for $10.5 Million |url = http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/09/mckay_tower_in_grand_rapids_qu.html |access-date = August 20, 2017 |work = MLive |date = September 18, 2012 |archive-date = August 21, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170821044326/http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/09/mckay_tower_in_grand_rapids_qu.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Guild later became the postmaster, with mail at the time being delivered monthly from the [[Gull Lake, Michigan]] to Grand Rapids.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> Grand Rapids in 1833 was only a few acres of land cleared on each side of the Grand River, with oak trees planted in light, sandy soil standing between what is now Lyon Street and Fulton Street.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> [[File:Rathbun House 1870.jpg|180px|thumb|left|The large framed building constructed by Campau in 1834, seen in this image converted into part of the Rathbun House.]] By 1834, the settlement had become more organized. Rev. Turner had established a school on the east side of the river, with children on the west side of the river being brought to school every morning by a Native American on a canoe who would shuttle them across the river. Multiple events happened at Guild's frame structure, including the first marriage in the city, one that involved his daughter Harriet Guild and Barney Burton, as well as the first town meeting that had nine voters. It was also this year Campau began constructing his own frame building—the largest at the time—near present-day Rosa Parks Circle.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> In 1835, many settlers arrived in the area with the population growing to about 50 people, including its first doctor, Dr. Wilson, who was supplied with equipment from Campau.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> [[Lucius Lyon]], using his knowledge from surveying the area, returned to Grand Rapids to purchase the rest of the prime land and called his plot the Village of Kent.<ref name="HISTORY1870" /><ref name="WILD" /> When Lyon and his partner N. O. Sergeant returned after their purchase, they arrived along with a posse of men carrying shovels and picks, intending to build a [[mill race]]. The group arrived to the music of a bugle which startled the settlement, with Chief Noonday offering Campau assistance to drive back Lyon's posse believing they were invaders. Also that year, Rev. Andrew Vizoisky, a Hungarian native educated in Catholic institutions in Austria, arrived, presiding over the Catholic mission in the area until his death in 1852.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> That year, Campau, Rix Robinson, Rev. Slater, and the husband of Chief Noonday's daughter, Meccissininni, traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak about the purchase of Odawa land on the west side of the river with President [[Andrew Jackson]].<ref name="HISTORY1881"/> Jackson was originally unimpressed with Meccissininni, though Meccissininni, who often acquired white customs, asked Jackson for a similar suit to the one the president was wearing. While later wearing his suit that was made similar to Jackson's, Meccissininni also unknowingly imitated Jackson's hat, placing a piece of weed in it, which impressed Jackson since it symbolized mourning the death of his wife.<ref name="HISTORY1881"/> [[John Ball (pioneer)|John Ball]], representing a group of New York land speculators, bypassed Detroit for a better deal in Grand Rapids traveling to the settlement in 1836. Ball declared the Grand River valley "the promised land, or at least the most promising one for my operations".<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=l2SbZhZfYfEC&pg=PA70 |title = History of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan |first = Albert |last = Baxyer |date = January 1, 1891 |via = Google Books |access-date = October 16, 2015 |archive-date = September 17, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230917135838/https://books.google.com/books?id=l2SbZhZfYfEC&pg=PA70 |url-status = live }}</ref> That year, the first steamboat was constructed on the Grand River named the ''Gov. Mason'', though the ship wrecked two years later in Muskegon.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> [[Yankee]] migrants (primarily English-speaking settlers) and others began migrating from [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[New England]] through the 1830s. Ancestors of these people included not only English colonists but people of mixed ethnic Dutch, [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]], French Canadian, and [[French Huguenot]] descent from the colonial period in New York. However, after 1837, the area saw poor times, with many of the French returning to their places of origin, with poverty hitting the area for the next few years.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> The first Grand Rapids newspaper, ''The Grand River Times'', was printed on April 18, 1837, describing the village's attributes, stating:<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> {{blockquote|Though young in its improvements, the site of this village has long been known and esteemed for its natural advantages. It was here that the Indian traders long since made their great depot.}} ''The Grand River Times'' continued, saying the village had grown quickly from a few French families to about 1,200 residents, the Grand River was "one of the most important and delightful to be found in the country," and described the changing Native American culture in the area.<ref name="HISTORY1870"/> ====Incorporation and cityhood==== [[File:MI Grand Rapids 1868.jpg|thumb|right|An 1868 [[pictorial map]] of Grand Rapids]] By 1838, the settlement incorporated as a village, and encompassed approximately {{Convert|.75|sqmi|sqkm}}.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title = Facts and History |url = https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Government/About/City-of-Grand-Rapids-Facts-and-History |access-date = September 15, 2021 |website = www.grandrapidsmi.gov |language = en-US |archive-date = September 15, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210915041459/https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Government/About/City-of-Grand-Rapids-Facts-and-History |url-status = live }}</ref> An outcropping of [[gypsum]], where [[Plaster Creek]] enters the Grand River, was known to the Native American inhabitants of the area. Pioneer geologist [[Douglass Houghton]] commented on this find in 1838.<ref>{{cite web |title = Gypsum |url = http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/gypsummining.html |access-date = August 20, 2017 |publisher = Michigan State University |archive-date = January 20, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130120085857/http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/gypsummining.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Lane |first = Alfred Church |url = https://archive.org/details/reportstateboar01survgoog |title = Report of the State Board of Geological Survey: Michigan |publisher = State Board of Geological Survey |year = 1980 |page = [https://archive.org/details/reportstateboar01survgoog/page/n10 3] |via = Internet Archive }}</ref> Settlers began to mine this outcrop in 1841, initially in [[Open-pit mining|open cast mines]], but later underground mines as well. Gypsum was ground locally for use as a soil amendment known as "land plaster." The first formal census in 1845 recorded a population of 1,510<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last = Fisher |first = Ernest B. |url = https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/ARX2230.0001.001/169?rgn=full+text;view=image |title = Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: historical account of their progress from first settlement to the present time |year = 1918 |pages = 163 |access-date = August 20, 2021 |archive-date = August 20, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210820075522/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/ARX2230.0001.001/169?rgn=full+text;view=image |url-status = live }}</ref> and an area of {{Convert|4|sqmi|km2}}.<ref name=":1" /> The city of Grand Rapids was incorporated April 2, 1850.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.grhistory.org/id22.htm |title = Historical Info. A Brief History of Grand Rapids |publisher = Grand Rapids Historical Society |access-date = September 24, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130521084755/http://www.grhistory.org/id22.htm |archive-date = May 21, 2013 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> It was officially established on May 2, 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' area totaled {{convert|10.5|sqmi|km2}}.<ref name=":2" /> Through the 1850s, the land containing forty-six [[Indian mounds]] located on the west side between Bridge Street and the Grand River to the south were sold by the United States government, with the mounds being destroyed to fill low-lying land in the area while the Native American artifacts contained within were taken or sold to museums, including the [[Grand Rapids Public Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.grcmc.org |first=Grand Rapids Community Media Center- |title=Indian Mounds |url=http://www.historygrandrapids.org/audio/2497/indian-mounds |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=Grand Rapids Historical Commission |language=en-us |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026020859/http://www.historygrandrapids.org/audio/2497/indian-mounds |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 1870, Grand Rapids became a desired location for immigrants, with about 120 Swedes arriving in the United States to travel and create a "colony" in the area in one week.<ref>{{cite news |title = Immigration <!-- |access-date = August 21, 2017--> |work = [[The New York Times]] |date = October 16, 1870 }}</ref> During the second half of the nineteenth century, the city became a major lumbering center, processing timber harvested in the region. Logs were floated down the Grand River to be milled in the city and shipped via the Great Lakes. The city became a center of fine wood products as well. By the end of the century, it was established as the premier furniture-manufacturing city of the United States.<ref name="pubmuseum">{{cite web |title = The Furniture City |url = http://www.grmuseum.org/exhibits/furniture_city |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100305141952/http://www.grmuseum.org/exhibits/furniture_city |archive-date = March 5, 2010 |access-date = March 6, 2010 |publisher = Grand Rapids Public Museum }}</ref> It was the [[Centennial Exposition]] of 1876 in [[Philadelphia]] that brought attention to Grand Rapids' furniture on the national stage, providing a new growing industry to help the city recover from the [[Panic of 1873]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last = Erdmans |first = Mary Patrice |date = Autumn 2005 |title = The Poles, the Dutch and the Grand Rapids Furniture Strike of 1911 |url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/20148725 |journal = [[Polish American Studies]] |volume = 62 |issue = 2 |pages = 5–22 |doi = 10.2307/20148725 |jstor = 20148725 |s2cid = 254436229 |via = [[JSTOR]] |access-date = August 9, 2021 |archive-date = August 8, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210808140348/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20148725 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1 = Bray |first1 = Nicole |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fawS2hCQ1F4C&pg=PA13 |title = Ghosts of Grand Rapids |last2 = DuShane |first2 = Robert |publisher = The History Press |year = 2013 |isbn = 9781626192058 |pages = 13–14 |name-list-style = amp |via = Google Books }}</ref> In 1880, the country's first hydro-electric generator was put to use on the city's west side.<ref name="hydro">{{cite web |date = September 9, 2005 |title = Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program: History of Hydropower |url = http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_history.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100126001540/http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_history.html |archive-date = January 26, 2010 |access-date = January 14, 2010 |publisher = [[United States Department of Energy]] }}</ref> === Twentieth century: Furniture City === Due to its flourishing furniture industry, Grand Rapids began being recognized as "Furniture City". Grand Rapids was also an early center for the [[automobile industry]], as the [[Austin Automobile Company]] operated there from 1901 until 1921.{{wide image|Grand Rapids c1915 6a13439u.jpg|900px|align-cap=center|A 1915 panorama, when the furniture industry peaked before the Great Depression.}}Furniture companies included the William A. Berkey Company and its successors, [[Baker Furniture Company]], Williams-Kimp, and [[Widdicomb Furniture Company]].<ref>{{cite web |title = Furniture Detective: Not All Antique Grand Rapids Furniture Is Grand |url = http://www.antiquetrader.com/featured/furniture-detective-not-all-antique-grand-rapids-furniture-is-grand |website = The Antique Trader |date = August 10, 2022 |access-date = August 16, 2014 |archive-date = August 19, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090037/http://www.antiquetrader.com/featured/furniture-detective-not-all-antique-grand-rapids-furniture-is-grand |url-status = live }}</ref> The furniture industry began to grow significantly into the twentieth century; in 1870 there were eight factories employing 280 workers and by 1911, [[Old National Bank]] wrote that about 8,500 were employed by forty-seven factories.<ref name=":03"/><ref name="VIVA">{{cite book |last1 = Flaherty |first1 = Viva |title = History of the Grand Rapids Furniture Strike With Facts Hitherto Unpublished |date = October 1911 |pages = 1–29 }}</ref> At least a third of the workers in Grand Rapids were employed by furniture companies.<ref name=":03" /> ''The Grand Rapids Furniture Record'' was the trade paper for the city's industry. Its industries provided jobs for many new immigrants from Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, and a Polish neighborhood developed on the west side of the city. ==== Strike of 1911 ==== {{Main|1911 Grand Rapids furniture workers strike}} [[File:Grand Rapids furniture strike - riot police.jpg|left|thumb|The [[riot police]] who responded to the [[1911 Grand Rapids furniture workers strike]]]] By the early twentieth century, the quality of furniture produced in Grand Rapids was renowned throughout furniture industry, mainly due to the skill of its workers.<ref name="VIVA" /> Government reports in 1907 revealed that while Grand Rapids lead the industry in product output, its furniture workers were paid lower wages than in other areas.<ref name="VIVA" /> After a minor dispute, workers were inspired to form [[labor union]]s; workers requested furniture companies to increase [[wage]]s, fewer working hours, the creation of [[collective bargaining]] and the institution of a [[minimum wage]] to replace [[piece work]].<ref name=":03" /><ref name="VIVA" /> The furniture businesses refused to respond with unions as they believed that any meeting represented recognition of unions.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="VIVA" /> Workers in Grand Rapids then began a four month long [[general strike]] on April 19, 1911.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="MLIVE12">{{Cite web |last = Martinez |first = Shandra |date = April 3, 2011 |title = Labor strife in Wisconsin reminiscent of great furniture strike of 1911 in Grand Rapids |url = https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2011/04/labor_strife_in_wisconsin_remi.html |access-date = August 7, 2021 |website = MLive |language = en |archive-date = June 13, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210613024159/https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2011/04/labor_strife_in_wisconsin_remi.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Much of the public, the mayor, the press and the Catholic diocese supported the strike, believing that the unwillingness of business leaders to negotiate was unjust. Skilled and unskilled factory labor was mainly Dutch (60 percent) and Polish (25 percent), primarily immigrants. According to the 1911 Immigration Commission report, the Dutch had an average of 8 percent higher wages than the Poles even when they did the same work. The pay difference was based on seniority and not ethnicity, but given that the Dutch had arrived earlier, seniority was linked to ethnicity.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="VIVA" /> Ultimately, the Christian Reformed Church – where the majority of Dutch striking workers congregated – and the [[Fountain Street Church]] – led opposition to the strike, which resulted in its end on August 19, 1911.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="MLIVE12" /> The strike resulted with substantial changes to the governmental and labor structure of the city.<ref name="MLIVE12" /> With businesses upset with Mayor Ellis for supporting the strike lobbied for the city to change from a twelve-ward government – which more accurately represented the city's ethnic groups – to a smaller three ward system that placed more power into the demands of Dutch citizens, the city's largest demographic.<ref name=":06">{{Cite journal |last = Erdmans |first = Mary Patrice |date = Autumn 2005 |title = The Poles, the Dutch and the Grand Rapids Furniture Strike of 1911 |journal = [[Polish American Studies]] |volume = 62 |issue = 2 |pages = 5–22 |doi = 10.2307/20148725 |jstor = 20148725 |s2cid = 254436229 }}</ref><ref name="MLIVE12"/> Some workers who participated in the strike were [[blacklisted]] by companies and thousands of dissatisfied furniture workers emigrated to higher paying regions.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="VIVA" /> ==== Move to retail and suburbanization ==== [[File:Grand Rapids Monroe Center 1965.jpg|thumb|Monroe Center in January 1965, with [[Sears]], [[S. S. Kresge Company]], [[Steketee's]] and Wurzburg's visible]] Shifting from its furniture-centric industry, downtown Grand Rapids temporarily became a retail destination for the region, hosting four department stores: Herpolsheimer's ([[Lazarus (department store)|Lazarus]]), [[Jacobson's]], [[Steketee's]] (founded in 1862), and Wurzburg's. In 1945, Grand Rapids became the first city in the United States to add [[fluoridation|fluoride]] to its drinking water. National home furnishing conferences were held in Grand Rapids for about seventy-five years, concluding in the 1960s. By that time, the furniture-making industry had largely shifted to [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |title = North Carolina, the Furniture Capital of the World |url = http://www.visitnc.com/story/north-carolina-the-furniture-capital-of-the-world |website = Visit NC |access-date = August 16, 2014 |archive-date = July 30, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140730180918/https://www.visitnc.com/story/north-carolina-the-furniture-capital-of-the-world |url-status = live }}</ref> As with many older cities in the United States, retail in the city suffered as the population moved to suburbs in the postwar era with federal subsidization of highway construction. The Grand Rapids suburb [[Wyoming, Michigan|Wyoming]] began to develop rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s following the opening of retail outlets such as [[Rogers Plaza]] and Wyoming Village Mall on [[M-11 (Michigan highway)|28th Street]], with developments built so quickly that they were finished without utilities.<ref name="CVDS77">{{cite book |last1 = Vaughn |first1 = Charles |title = The City of Wyoming: A History |last2 = Simon |first2 = Dorothy |date = 1984 |publisher = Four Corners Press |location = Franklin, Michigan |pages = 77–112 }}</ref> Consolidation of department stores occurred in Grand Rapids and nationally in the 1980s and 1990s. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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