Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 197,800. It is the county seat of Kent County, Michigan6. It is the second largest city in the state (following Detroit) and is the principal city in the region of West Michigan.
Grand Rapids sits on the banks of the Grand River, where there was once a set of rapids, at an altitude of 610 feet 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.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 117.4 km2 (45.3 mi2). 115.6 km2 (44.6 mi2) of it is land and 1.8 km2 (0.7 mi2, 1.50%) of it is water (primarily the Grand River).
As of the census of 2000, there are 197,800 people, 73,217 households, and 44,369 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,710.8/km2 (4,431.2/mi2). There are 77,960 housing units at an average density of 674.3/km2 (1,746.5/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 67.30% White, 20.41% African American, 0.74% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 6.63% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. 13.05% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 73,217 households out of which 32.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.3% are married couples living together, 15.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% are non-families. 30.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.57 and the average family size is 3.24.
In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $37,224, and the median income for a family is $44,224. Males have a median income of $33,050 versus $26,382 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,661. 15.7% of the population and 11.9% of families are 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.
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. Both American Seating and Steelcase, major manufacturers of office furniture, are based in Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids is also the home to retailers Meijer and Spartan Stores.
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 new Cook-DeVos Medical Training Facility, and Michigan State University's planned medical school (supplementing its facility in East Lansing).
The convention business has seen an increase following the construction of the DeVos Place Convention Center.
Over 2,000 years ago, the Hopewell Indians 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 Madeline La Framboise established the first Indian/European trading post in West Michigan, on the banks of the Grand River near what is now Ada. After the death of her husband in 1806, Medaline La Franboise 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).
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. Today, Grand Rapids is considered a world leader in the production of office furniture. The city also became a center of Dutch immigration in the 19th century.
In 1881, the country's first hydro-electric plant was put to use on the city's west side. 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 home to the first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States when Stout Air Services began Grand Rapids to Detroit service on July 31, 1926. In 1945, Grand Rapids became the first city in the United States to add fluoride to its drinking water. Grand Rapids also lays claims to the first publicly-funded art installation.
Grand Rapids has several large ethnic communities. It is home to the headquarters of the Christian Reformed Church and is a center of the Reformed Church in America, both because of the presence of a large group of Dutch Americans. Grand Rapids is also home to large Polish American and African American communities and a growing Hispanic community.
Source:
GrandRapidsMichigan.com
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