Glance at the Past

The East Side Power Canal was started in 1835 and completed in 1842.      

Looking back 100 years at the holiday tradition.      

The history of the landmark fire bell that called Grand Rapids' first volunteer fire department.      

Constance Mayfield Rourke - (November 14, 1885- March 29, 1941) - cultural historian and author of 7 books, including 'American Humor: A Study of the American Character', made Grand Rapids her home between 1915-1941.   

Solomon Withey and his son Orison experiment with the local materials in creating the city's first brick.      

Newspaperman Arthur S. White reflects on his first impressions of Grand Rapids.      

The wild side of early Grand Rapids life.      

The trials of Grand Rapids' early medical practitioners.      

Glance at the Past examines the genesis of our GR Public Museum and an early patron, George Wickwire Smith.      

Information on the first two professional artists in Grand Rapids history: Marinus Harting (born 1815) and A.J. Conant      

Soccer is nothing new in Grand Rapids high schools, as Glance at the Past reports.      

Economic collapse hits Grand Rapids in 1933.      

George Pattison founded the Grand River Times in 1837.      

At the turn of the 20th Century, cigar smoking far surpassed all other forms of tobacco among Grand Rapidians.      

The first public farmers' markets come to Grand Rapids, including our great Fulton Street location.      

The influence of Paul Goebel, Sr., landscape designer, and sons      

The stories of two early Grand Rapids women politicians: Harriet Cook and Alde L. T. Blake.     

James Moran (1832-1886), first Grand Rapids, Michigan, chief of police      

Two notorious arsonists exacerbate Grand Rapids' fire problem.      

Civil War soldiers are greeted with a lavish banquet upon their return to Grand Rapids.