History of Ottawa County, Michigan with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers.

l i;l

GRAND HAVEN CITY.

-

This beautiful little city, the Saratoga of the West, lies compactly on the left bank. of the Grand River, not far from its debouchure into Lake Michigan. Immense sand hills rise like ramparts between the city and the lake shore, and encroach upon the west
side, in some cases burying houses in their progress. A bare and
glistening wall of sand with a broad plateau greets the eye whenever
westward turned. The whole city is on light sand, which produces
fine gardens and fruit orchards. Across the river appear more sand
bluffs upon a peninsula, or tongue of land, the property of I. VHarris, where it was once supposed the city would ultimately be established, and where the D., G. H. & M. Railway Depot formerly
was. The depot is now on the Grand Haven side, and one wonders where it could have come in on the other side, so much have
the mountains of sand encroached to the very verge of the river, so
as to threaten to choke up the channel. "Not a wrack is left behind" to mark the once busy scenes that were enacted over there;
and the $40,000 that were once offered for the sandy peninsula will
not soon be offered again. The Government has caused board fences
to be built along the sides of the bluff to stop the blowing of the
sand into the river, with what success remains to be seen.
The principal thoroughfare is Washington street, which runs up
from the river from where the D., G. H. & M. Depot stands, past
the Kirby House, the Post Office, the Cutler House Block, and
Sanitarium, on past the Court House Square, and so on over the
hill, passing some fine residences and churches.
RAILWAYS.
The D., G. H. & M. have a respectable and solid-looking stone
depot, with a fine elevator a little farther up the river. Their line
crosses directly over a bayou and an island, and then the river by a
fine iron bridge into Ferrysburg, and thence by another bridge into
Spring Lake. At their depot in Ferrysburg, also a neat little structure, they form a junction with the C. & W. M., which passes on
the left side, and freight and passengers are here transferred. The
latter railway has running powers over the iron swing bridge referred
to, and has its depot near the junction of Fourth and Jackson
streets. Thence its course is south to Holland and New Buffalo,
where it meets the Michigan Central. The C. & W. M. Depot is
known as the Holland depot.
The word "Grand Haven" was not in the original title of the
railway, which was simply "Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad." The
road came into Ottawa County in 1858, and has been sold out by
the bondholders, so that it is controlled by the Great Western of
Canada, F. Broughton, managing director, and F. C. Stratton the
local agent. We learned from Mr. Percival, ex-station-master, that
the first station-master was Capt. Heber Squires; then followed in
succession John Pickford, Mr. Reikie, Thomas Bromely, then
Pickford again, George A. Mills, John T. Percival (1871-4), then
F. C. Stratton from 1875 to the present time.:~ I

Connected with the change of the depot from the other side of
the river there has been some litigation. The company found the
sand encroaching upon them, cramping them for room, and separated from the main center of population by a river. The buildings
needed rebuilding, and in this juncture the idea of moving occurred.
The people of Grand Haven were anxious to have the road on their
side of the river, and so a bonus of $50,000 was voted to bring over
a railway, the management of which was only too glad to come. At
this time a mania for railways was everywhere prevalent. This was
about 11 or 12 years ago. About half the bonus was issued in
bonds, but for some reason the city refused to pay, and the case has
gone to the Supreme Court, which has declared the bonds illegal,
except those in the hands of innocent purchasers, of whom it is not
known that there are any. About a year ago a demand was made by
the railway company, but so far no suit has been entered for the
amount.
HER ADVANTAGES.
Grand Haven is favored in the way of transportation, as she
has two strong railway lines, independent of each other; one traversing the regions to the north and south; the other, the east and
west, and connected with the fine line of steamers of the Goodrich
Transportation Company, who are constantly adding splendid new
steamers to their line to Milwaukee and Chicago. We doubt if
there is in the United States a more magnificent steamer 'than the
"Milwaukee," under the efficient management of Capt. Smallman.
The city has, besides, a priceless heritage in her noble harbor, and
her water communication by the lake to the west and the river to the
east.
Then in her great lumber business, which is assuming enormous
proportions, and which is good for many years yet, Grand Haven is
to be congratulated. The product has risen from 58,000,000 feet in
1876 to to 191,000,000 in 1881. The figures in feet, from 1873 to
1880, are:
YEAR. FEET.
1873..... 117,535,000
1874...... 80,964,000
1875....... 83,150,000
1876.......58,500,000
1877....... 80,805,000
1878...... 80,000,000
1879....... 120,795,000
1880...... 135,919,000
1881....... 191,000,000
A city, turning out annually about 200,000,000 feet of lumber,
has good reason to be proud of her standing as a producer of that
great staple. We shall, however, speak hereafter more in detail.
Suffice it to say here that it has within its limits the greatest shingle
mill in the world-that of Boyden & Akeley.

L

W L

_____-!! - =,I 3 3S