Part I - Agriculture, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.



PICKLE PACKERS
Pickles also were a big crop in Mecosta County in earlier years with plants operating in Big Rapids and Rodney, and possibly elsewhere in the county too. H.J. Heinz Pickle Company operated the Rodney factory that stood at the west edge of the community (at the site where the railroad tracks crossed M-20) from 1907-1926. Many area residents worked at the site during the harvest season to earn a few extra dollars and the factory processed and shipped out 300,000 pounds of pickles each year.

The picture here of the Heinz pickle factory in Big Rapids was taken in 1910. Syanding in the center of the picture with hand on hip is Frank Grunst, father of John and Gerald Grunst who loaned the picture to the Pioneer many years ago. While the Heinz processing plant was located on Fourth Avenue on the city's east side, the district offices at 114-1/2 N. Michigan Avenue at the time of the city'scentennial in 1955. At the time, John D. White was managing the office with a staff of six to contract and buy cucumber pickles in Montcalm, Osceola, Isabella and Mecosta Counties. White had come to Big Rapids from Holland in 1947. The plant was torn down in the 1970's. (Pioneer file photos)

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