Northwest Ottawa County Encyclopedia of History
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NORTHWEST OTTAWA COUNTY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY Volume II Buildings and Sites Wallace K. Ewing, Ph.D. Copyright 2017 by Wallace K. Ewing, Ph.D. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written consent of the author. Second digital edition, November 2018. Third digital edition, November 2019. Second print edition and fourth digital edition, November 2020. Title page photograph: Sheldon Magnetic Springs and Spa, corner of Washington and Third Streets Last page photograph: South Pier at sunset, author’s collection 2 NORTHWEST OTTAWA COUNTY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY Volume II Buildings and Sites Wallace K. Ewing, Ph.D. 3 4 BUILDINGS AND SITES Listed by address Contents GRAND HAVEN AREA ............................................................................................ 5 FERRYSBURG AREA ........................................................................................... 262 SPRING LAKE AREA ........................................................................................... 267 FRUITPORT AREA ............................................................................................... 321 GRAND HAVEN AREA 12 North First Street [approximate number] Attorney Robert Duncan’s office was located at this address from the mid-1800s until about the time of his death in 1903. In 1910, it was the residence of Cyrus and Mathilda Wise and their grandson, Ellis Wise. By 1917 “Dodge Bros. Cars” were offered at this site for “$1265 F.O.B. Detroit.” James J. Perry was the distributor. Nash automobiles also were offered at this address in the same decade. The Elman & De Witt Chevrolet Sales and Service Company opened here in 1925. Frank E. Miller I bought the business from Nick De Witt in 1940 and operated Miller Chevrolet until at least the late 1950s, and then moved to 1701 Beacon Boulevard. After Miller’s death, and the death of his son, Frank E. Miller II, Otto Vanden Bosch became president of the business. Grand Haven Chrysler-Plymouth Company came next, followed in the 1970s by Kandu Industries. The site is now a parking lot. 19 North First Street See 19-21 Washington Street. 21 North First Street [approximate number] Robert and Martha Duncan’s two-story frame residence was located at this site. His law office was across the street at 12 North First. When Mr Duncan died in 1903, his funeral was held in the house. At an undisclosed time, the Duncan house was moved east on Washington Street to an unspecified site. Not long after his death, Story & Clark Piano Company constructed one of its buildings in this block. 20 North First Street The Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW] built this one-story structure about 1974 after selling their property at 420 Fulton to Alanon. Locally the organization was known as the Alvin J. Jonker Post No. 2326. Residential property filled the site prior to the VFW’s purchase. 106 North First Street In the early 1900s Arthur and Daisy Van Etten owned a lodging house at this address. Among their lodgers in 1910 were John and Clarissa Sewell; Gresham and Sarah Gibbs and their children; Grace Hamilton; Louis Lambert; Nelson and Mirindan Hobart; and Nellie Streves. The Van Ettens and their three children also occupied the house. 111 North First Street 5 Not long after their wedding in 1914, Hilbrand and Johanna Beukema built a home at this address for $1600. The house was moved to the southeast corner of Leggat and Howard Streets [102 Howard] in 1922, when Story & Clark expanded. 200 and 201 North First Street [approximate numbers] John Bryce’s Foundry and Machine Shop was located on the northeast corner of Elliott and First Streets [Lot 92] by the mid-1870s. Evidently, after fire destroyed the long, frame building in 1881, the owners built a new structure across the street on the northwest corner of the intersection [Lot 85], while keeping a smaller building on the original site. Eventually Henry Bloeker purchased the business and it became known as the H. Bloeker Marine Engine Works. The buildings were still there in 1912. 13 South First Street John Boyink had a bottling company at this address. He also owned the Health Office Saloon at 24 Washington, where he and his wife, Margaret, made their residence in the early 1900s. 15 South First Street [approximate number] In the 1880s Gerrit Gringhuis owned a retail establishment here, called G. Gringhuis Clothing Store. He advertised himself as “Dealer in ready-made clothes, gents’ Furnishing goods, etc.” 17 South First Street Ada M. Biggar, proprietor of the White Laundry located nearby on Washington Street, lived here in the early 1900s with Eleanor Biggar, Ivan Biggar, and Herbert Biggar. 21 South First In the early 1930s Ted Barrett operated a “Motor Service Garage” at this site. He also sold Presto-Light Batteries and Franklin oils. 30 South First Street A rambling, two-story house was located on the southwest corner of Franklin and First streets, before the area was converted to a parking lot. The main entrance faced First Street, with a living room and bedroom downstairs, a long dining room with a built-in pantry, and two bedrooms up a stairway from the reception room. Attached was another two-story building, with a kitchen and woodshed in the back and two bedrooms upstairs. The house dated to at least the 1860s, or possibly the late 1850s, and was built by a Mr. Shack. Dr. Jacob B. McNett wrote in 1886 that the property at this address was the residence of John and Mary Walsh Furlong and their family. 101 South First Street [approximate number] This was the presumed location of the Franklin Hotel [Lot 72], although the building may have faced Franklin Street. Grand Haven resident Lewis Reghel once managed the hotel. 108 South First Street David Carver built a residence at this corner site [Lot 105] in 1836 or 1837. The house evidently faced First Street. Carver, who left the area around 1839, also lived at 225 Franklin. William Hathaway I evidently occupied the home after Carver’s departure. The house later was occupied by William and Jane Gray Wallace, who were married in 1854. William was a Grand Haven businessman. Jane and their son, Walter, continued to live in the home after William’s death in 1905. Later owners were Volker and Suzanne Rutnitzki. 113 South First Street A milliner by the name of Isabella Patterson resided at this address in the early 1900s. She and May Patterson owned a hat shop at 217 North Seventh. 6 114 South First Street Isaac and Mary Sanford and their family lived in a home at this address. Isaac, an early arrival in Grand Haven, was born in 1836 and died in 1911. 121 South First Street [approximate number] This was the site [Lot 70] of the second schoolhouse in Grand Haven; used after the structure on Second Street [Lot 186] was vacated in 1851 and before Clinton Street School was erected in 1860. Originally the residence of Timothy Eastman, the building was remodeled and used as a schoolhouse from 1851 to 1860 After the students were moved to the Clinton Street School, the structure again was used as a residence. 200 South First Street [approximate number] In 1836 William Butts and William Hathaway II, owners of a sawmill at the foot of Columbus, built a house on the southeast corner of First and Clinton Streets [Lot 109]. Who lived there and when the house was destroyed or razed are unanswered questions. 3 North Second Street In the early 1900s this was the address for Edgar and Mary Bryce. Edgar, an engineer, died in 1919. 9 North Second Street North of Hostetter’s newsstand stood two saloons. One, operated around 1908 by David V. Cooper and later by Charley Ver Murlen, became the site of the Difficult Repair Shop from the early 1900s to the 1930s, where John Zalsman fixed locks and bicycles. It housed Jim Bosma’s Bike Shop in the 1940s and into the late 1950s. The building at this site later was occupied by Brian’s Novelty Cleaners. Along with two other sites in this block, the space was converted to a parking lot in the 1960s. 11 North Second Street By 1908 Andrew Schaafsma owned a harness store at this address. Andrew and his wife, Jennie, lived in an apartment above the shop. In the mid-1920s the building housed Henry Wierenga’s outlet for Maytag products: “Exclusive Dealers for the Famous Maytag Aluminum Washer.” The store moved to 133 Washington in 1935. In the mid- to late-1940s, Markham’s Floor Coverings did business at this address. Henry V. Koppel’s Western Auto moved here from 129 Washington in the 1950s. Along with two other sites in this block, it was converted to a parking lot in the 1960s. 12 North Second Street [approximate number] At approximately this address the Ball warehouse was used around 1900 to store flour. Until recent years a large mural advertising the flour was visible on the west wall of the adjacent Ball Block [201-203 Washington], which was refurbished in the mid-1980s by Gary Sorenson. In the reconstruction process, the mural was painted over. 13-15 North Second Street Just north of Charley Ver Murlen’s place Anselm Fuchs [Austin Fox] also operated a saloon in the early 1900s. Anselm was assisted by his wife, Mary. By the early 1930s Brians Novelty Cleaners advertised from 15 North Second, and by 1940 the business occupied both sites and remained there until the property was converted to a parking lot in the 1960s, along with other nearby sites. Charles and Nellie Brian owned the drycleaning establishment and lived in an apartment above the shop. 16-20 North Second Street In 1948 the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie No. 925, implemented plans to build a lodge at this address for $100,000. Prior to that Lambert Vyn’s home was located on this lot [16 North Second].