Glance at the Past
Summary: The Grand Rapids Historical Commission Podcast features "A Glance at the Past," a local history radio project. Take a listen to give you a glimpse of Grand Rapids in the past.
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The weekly Grand Rapids Saturday Evening Post, in addition to local happenings, provided schedules of the several railroads that serviced the city in its "Traveler's Guide" column.
The first school in Grand Rapids Township, District No. 4 was a small log cabin with ten pupils that opened in September 1844. The teacher, Miss Amelia Davis received $12 for the three-month term.
Many holiday foods have early origins from England, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Germany to name just a few. Hot rum punch and eggnog, as well as apple pie are American additions.
In January of 1943 the Army Air Force Weather School was established in Grand Rapids. Four hundred cadets and thirty instructors began a nine month course in meteorology at the Civic Auditorium.
Television was viewed as the destroyer of movies during the 1950s. Was that really the case or were there other contributing causes?
For many years the Kent County jail, which stood on the east bank of the Grand River, was considered one of the prettiest blocks in the city.
Charles Garfield discovered a fascinating story, about the existence of a lone black walnut tree, from an aged Ottawa Indian.
Daring young men, eager to emulate the birds, experimented with gliders and heavier-than-air planes as they attempted to escape earth's gravity.
Ambassador Thomas J. O"Brien servered in Denmark, Japan, and Rome where the position of the United States required he find a proper residence.
James Bentham's restaurant was an important place in town in the 1800s. Charles Belknap claimed it was as important as Daniel Ball's bank.
An automatic weather station, provided by the United States Weather Bureau, was installed in Monument Park in 1913.
The grade bench established a starting point, or base, from which surveys and levels were calculated in city engineering.
The crowning achievement of G.A. Hendricks would be his thirty-four story Furniture Capitol Building. Unfortunately the building was never constructed due to conflict with the city and the beginning of the 1929 depression.
Grand Rapids passed a resolution introducing the eight-hour day for all those employed by the city in 1867, one year before the federal government enacted the Eight Hour Law.
Music was a centerpiece in the life of Maria Royce as composer, a force in the St. Cecilia Music Society, and her involvement with deaf children and Camp Fire Girls.