GRAND RAPIDS

city, seat (1836) of Kent county, western Michigan, U.S. It is situated along the Grand River, 25 miles (40 km) east of Lake Michigan and 149 miles (240 km) west-northwest of Detroit. It was founded in 1826 by the Frenchman Louis Campau as a trading post where several important Ottawa Indian trails (which are now diagonal streets) converged at the rapids on the Grand River. Ample waterpower generated by the 18-foot (5.5-metre) fall of the river and the availability of valuable lumber from nearby pine and hardwood forests resulted in the establishment of a number of sawmills and woodworking (especially furniture-making) industries in the town. Following the display of Grand Rapids furniture at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, the city gained a reputation as the furniture capital of America. Buyers the world over went to its furniture markets, first held in 1878. The diversification of its industry began with the advent of World War I, and metal-based manufacturing industries thereafter exceeded furniture in value and output. Nevertheless, Grand Rapids furniture produced by its skilled craftsmen has maintained its eminence in quality, style, and design. Grand Rapids has become the state's second largest city and is the principal trading centre of western Michigan, including a large area devoted to fruit farming and truck gardening. The city's Public Museum (founded in 1854 as a gift of the lumber baron T. Stewart White) includes historical and contemporary furniture exhibits. The city's public library contains one of the country's most important collections of books on furniture design and manufacture. Calvin College (1876), Aquinas College (1887), Grand Rapids Community College (1914), Davenport College of Business (1866), and Kendall College of Art and Design (1928) are located there, while the Grand Valley State University (1960) is in nearby Allendale. The city has some 50 parks, including a zoo. Grand Rapids was the boyhood home of President Gerald R. Ford, who represented (1948-73) the congressional district that included the city. Inc. village, 1838; city, 1850. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 192,008; Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland MSA, 952,154.