Grand Haven, Mich., emerges as recreation destination

Michigan’s Grand River begins its 252-mile journey to Lake Michigan in rural Hillsdale County in extreme southern Michigan.

 

As the longest river in Michigan, the Grand River flows in a northwesterly direction, passing through Lansing (the state capital) and Grand Rapids (the state’s second largest metropolitan area...shown below), on its way to the perky and quirky community of Grand Haven with a population of nearly 11,000.

 

Pup greets visitors at Barefoot Dave’s in Grand Haven. The store slogan is: 

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Worries.

The first settler to arrive at Grand Haven was Rix Robinson (shown below), a fur trapper and trader employed by John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company.

 

By 1827, Robinson had established 20 trading posts in the Michigan Territory. He obtained rights to Grand Haven area lands in 1833.

In 1835, the Rev. William Montague Ferry (shown below), a Presbyterian minister who was a missionary on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, sailed south to the mouth of the Grand River, bringing family and friends. The group set ashore at Rix Robinson’s fur trading post.

 

Rev. Ferry’s group erected permanent dwellings and a sawmill. They began to harvest acres of towering white pines. Working inland, they took advantage of the Grand River to float logs to their sawmills. They shipped lumber to lucrative markets throughout the Midwest by way of Great Lakes’ ports. The timber industry enjoyed a profitable run here for about 60 years.

The community of Ferrysburg grew up next to Grand Haven, and an increasingly affluent middle class sought relaxation and recreation along the shores of Lake Michigan, Spring Lake and the Grand River.

 

Boaters gather to celebrate the Spring Lake Labor Day Flotilla.

Grand Haven historian Dr. David H. Seibold said the original lighthouse and keeper’s cottage were built on the beach in 1839, but winter storms washed the structures away in 1852.

A second light with an adjoining keeper’s dwelling was built in 1855 on the bluff behind and 150 feet above the beach. Its light was visible for 25 miles under clear conditions.

The South Pier was completed to its present length of 1,495 feet in 1893 and equipped with a pier-head light. However, the bluff light remained the main port beacon until 1905, when a 52-foot steel tower was placed on the end of the South Pier.

In 1907, the tower and light were moved 600 feet back from the end of the pier to its present location.

An iconic catwalk built above the pier made it possible to reach the light during the worst weather conditions.

 

Adjacent to the pier is the 49-acre Grand Haven State Park, a sandy public beach that was established in 1920. The park includes 174 camping sites.

 

Among the natural landmarks in the Grand Haven area is a protected 40-acre sand dune located across the Grand River from the city’s downtown district. It’s named Dewey Hill, after U.S. Navy Admiral George Dewey, and has an elevation of 610 feet.

 The anchor on Dewey Hill is 50 feet tall. Each individual letter is 8 feet tall.

Since 1962, audiences have gathered every evening during the summer season at the Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium to view a free, 30-minute performance of the Grand Haven Musical Fountain, a mesmerizing water and light show synchronized to well-known musical selections. (Lynne Sherwood was a prominent Grand Haven business leader and philanthropist.)

 

Golfers can experience the unique American Dunes Golf Club outside Grand Haven. The course was reinvented in 2021 by legendary professional golfer Jack Nicklaus for new owner Dan Rooney, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

 

Proceeds from the golf course benefit Rooney’s Folds of Honor charitable organization, which awards educational scholarships to children of wounded or deceased military men and women.

 

Everyone who has played a round at the course leaves with a renewed sense of American patriotism.