Michigan’s second largest city, Grand Rapids is in the west central section of the state just twenty-five miles east of Lake Michigan. Its location at the rapids on Grand River is the source of the city’s name. Today, with more than 2,000 acres of parklands in the heart of Michigan’s lake resort region, the city is rich in natural beauty and diversified all-season recreational advantages that range from boating and golf to swimming and hiking in the summer months and from ice skating and sledding to skiing in the winter. Grand Rapids has an estimated population of approximately 200,000 and points proudly to its many big-city opportunities and small-town friendliness. It is the boyhood home of President Gerald R. Ford.

Grand Rapids is the hub of commerce, transportation, and manufacturing for western Michigan. Although at one time it was the furniture capital of the United States, the city’s manufactures have expanded to include office furniture, industrial machinery, plastics, metals, food services, printing, automotive parts, leather products, and information technology. It has been named by Fortune magazine as one of America’s 10 best Cities for Business. The region is served by a modern expressway system, four railroads, and the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

Popular points of interests are the Ford Presidential Museum, the Furniture Museum, the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, the Heritage Hills Historic District, the downtown Vandenberg Center featuring a 43-foot high metal sculpture by the noted artist Alexander Calder, a planetarium and a zoo. Cultural attractions include a major symphony, opera, ballet, and theater. The city is home to more than a dozen colleges and universities.

The Grand River valley was occupied originally by the Hopewell people. It was the site of a thriving Ottawa Indian village when a Baptist mission arrived in 1825. A year later a trading post was established by a fur trader at the present location of the city of Grand Rapids. By the time the city was incorporated in 1850 it had become a lumbering operation, which gave birth to a major furniture manufacturing center utilizing waterpower generated by the rapids on Grand River.

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