Early History City of Holland and Holland Township In 1846, conditions in the Netherlands were ripe for a mass migration to America. Like the Pilgrim fathers three centuries before, seceders from the state-sanctioned Reformed Church were persecuted. Deteriorating economic conditions brought about by Dutch manufacturers' failure to compete with English producers were coupled with onerous taxes on food. Unemployment was widespread. Rev. Albertus VanRaalte Rev. Albertus Van Raalte, a 36-year-old pastor from the province of Overijsel, led 100 followers in migrating to the land of opportunity on September 24, 1846. They sailed on the Southerner from Rotterdam and seven weeks later arrived in New York CIty. Initially, Van Raalte planned to plant his colony in Wisconsin. Immigrants journeyed to Detroit via Albany and Buffalo and prepared to take a steamer up Lake Huron through the Mackinac Straits to eastern Wisconsin, but the Straits had already frozen over, ending the shipping season. Van Raalte found temporary employment in Detroit for his countrymen and later took the Michigan Central west to Kalamazoo. There he met M.I. Coit and the Rev. Ova P. Hoyt, a Presbyterian minister. They convinced Van Raalte that western Michigan with its established population, "better educated, more religious and more enterprising people," would be an ideal location for his colony. Van Raalte struggled through the waist-high snow. Weakened by days of exploration in the dense wilderness of Allegan and Ottawa Counties, he could hardly lift his snowshoes. At times, he could make no more than 50 paces before stopping to rest. But even as he rested, Van Raalte scooped through the snow to examine the quality of the underlying soil. The Dutch pastor liked what he found. The thick growth of virgin hardwood that blanketed the region indicated a fertile soil. The timber would be ideal for fine furniture manufacturing. The tempering influence of nearby Lake Michigan would permit fruit growing, and the unsettled land around the mouth of the Black River could be purchased cheaply. Perhaps most important, the river lay approximately half way between the more developed Kalamazoo and Grand Rivers, which offered access to other markets. Yet the Black River site was isolated enough to allow a theocratic Dutch colony to mature without the interference of the ungodly. On New Year's Day, 1847, as local Ottawas marked the holiday by musket fire, Van Raalte selected the site for the city that would be known as Holland. Later that month, Van Raalte conducted legal research at Grand Haven, the Ottawa County seat. Returning to Detroit, then the state capital, he began purchasing land. He used $10,000 of his own money realized from the sale of his brick and tile factory in Overijsel and borrowed funds from Americans proud of their Dutch heritage. Van Raalte bought some land at government prices of $1.25 an acre and other plats of 600 acres, for prices as low as $11.60 for back taxes owed. He also purchased 3,000 acres for $7,000 from New York City owners. Shelter and food to survive the tough winter became a serious problem. Unused to American ways of building and ill-equipped with tools and supplies, builders proceeded slowly. The Dutch pioneers also had an unfortunate habit of felling trees on top of already completed cabins until they learned lumberjack skills. By early February, the colonists, with help from the Indians, had chopped out a road and constructed their first log house. Their families joined them from Allegan and brought news that additional parties of Dutchmen were en route. The Dutch got in trouble with the Indians on several occasions. Once they appropriated dressed venison found hanging from trees. The Indians demanded restitution from Van Raalte, who paid out of his own pocket. The worst offense occurred later that year. During the spring, the Indians planted corn and bean fields and then left for their traditional hunting grounds in Berrien County. Assuming that the Indians had deserted for good, the Dutch assigned the Indian fields to newly arrived immigrants. When the tribe returned in the fall for harvesting, they found their crop lands overrun with Dutch settlers. Van Raalte attempted to resolve the problem, but failed to completely satisfy the Indians. In 1849, after additional conflicts, the government moved the last of the local Indians to a new mission site in Leelanau County. Most colonists survived the winter of 1847, but the summer brought worse problems. Weakened by poor foods and insufficient shelter, many fell victim to malaria spread by the hordes of mosquitoes that infected undrained swamps. Others died of dysentary or of the smallpox epidemic introduced by the new arrivals. Medical facilities were almost non-existent, and so many parents died that Van Raalte erected an orphanage. Fortunately, the winter of 1847-1848 proved mild. By spring, what the first colonists remembered as the "bitter days" had passed. More settlers continued to arrive from the old country and by 1860 Holland's population numbered 1,991. A fire that destroyed half of the city in 1871 served only to cement a more tightly-knit community. Unlike so many other American utopian expiriments that failed, Holland was there to stay. THE CAPPON HOUSE, 228 W. NINTH STREET, was built in 1872-73 by Isaac Cappon, an early Holland industrialist and the first mayor of the incorporated city of Holland. The foundation of the frame was of Waverly stone quarried just east of Holland. The grandeur of this 19th century home was reflected in some of the interior features. The best preserved and most original in character of the elegant homes built during the Victorian era in Holland, it is now a division of the Holland Historical Trust and open for public touring. THIRD REFORMED CHURCH, CORNER OF PINE AND TWELFTH STREETS, was organized in 1867 when the members of Holland's First Reformed Church decided they should split into two smaller churches. The first building was completed in 1868. The bell of this church sounded the first alarm of the 1871 fire. During the rebuilding process in 1872, a strong wind blew the framework apart. Scattered timbers were used to reconstruct the house at 121 W. Twelfth. The rebuilt church was dedicated in 1874 and was carefully restored in 1968. Chancel furniture came from a New York City church that had received it as a gift from the daughter-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln. HOPE REFORMED CHURCH, 79 W. ELEVENTH STREET, the first English-speaking church in the area, was built in 1862-64 on property donated by Rev. Albertus Van Raalte. The original structure was destroyed in the 1871 fire and was rebuilt. The 1874 building of Rural Gothic architecture with slate siding is still visible from the east side. Growth of the congregation necessitated building an expansion toward Eleventh Street in 1902. The stepped gables of this addition are characteristic of Dutch architecture. Rose windows and art glass memorial windows were added in the early 1920s. CENTENNIAL PARK, ELEVENTH TO TWELFTH STREETS AND CENTRAL TO RIVER AVENUES. Holland began as a planned community of 400 acres centered on the area which was at the mouth of the Black River, now also called the Macatawa River. The first lots were platted by an Allegan surveyor, Mr. Bassett, in 1847. Eighth Street, the first drawn, was to be the main thoroughfare. What is now Centennial Park was the area set aside as a market square for community trading. In 1876, Hollanders undertook the landscaping of Market Square and renamed it in honor of the nation's centennial celebration. NINTH STREET CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH (PILLAR CHURCH), CORNER OF NINTH STREET AND COLLEGE AVENUE. Soon after the Dutch immigrants arrived in Holland in 1847, they erected a log church on what is now the area of Pilgrim Home Cemetery. By 1853, the congregation felt the need to build a new structure closer to the city. Under the leadership of Rev. Van Raalte, the Pillar Church was built between 1853 and 1856. This Greek Revival style church with its imposing entrance was designed by architect Jacobus Schrader. The bell suspended in its steeple was purchased by popular subscription in 1850 and hung at the corner of Ninth and College streets. It was used to announce services, burials, fires and the hours of the working day. HOPE COLLEGE CAMPUS, COLLEGE AVENUE BETWEEN TENTH AND TWELFTH STREETS. Hope College rose from Dr. Van Raalte's dream of a church-affiliated college in his colony. It started as the Pioneer School in 1851, became the Holland Academy in 1857 and, under the determined leadership of President Phillip Phelps, received a Charter of Incorporation of Liberal Arts on May 14, 1866. http://www.rootsweb.com/~miottawa/holland/educationhopecollege.html VAN VLECK HALL, HOPE COLLEGE CAMPUS. Completed in 1858, this is the oldest standing building on campus. It provided the first permanent facility for the Holland Academy and was named after Rev. John Van Vleck, academy principal from 1855-59, who designed it and supervised its construction. This building was refurbished in 1980. GRAVES HALL, HOPE COLLEGE CAMPUS. Dedicated in 1894, this was originally the college library and chapel. The building was named for principal donor, Nathan F. Graves, a member of the Reformed Church of America from Syracuse, N.Y. The structure was built of native Waverly stone quarried a short distance east of Holland. It is a classic example of Romanesqe Revival architecture. WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, SOUTH SIDE OF 12th STREET JUST EAST OF COLLEGE AVENUE, was the second of two seminaries of the Reformed Church of America. It began as an offshoot of theology department at Hope College in 1866. New Brunswick Seminary in New Jersey was already established, but it was felt that a second seminary in the West could better meet the needs of the immigrant churches. In 1885, Western became an entirely separate institution from Hope College, although it continued to use the college's facilities. OLD WING MISSION, EAST 40th STREET. The text of the historical marker gives us a brief story of Old Wing: "The main portion of this building was the residence of George N. Smith, a Congregational missionary to the Indians in this area and at Chief Waukazoo's Village on nearby Lake Macatawa. The Mission was named after an Indian convert. Built in 1844-45 by Isaac Fairbanks, a government agriculture agent to the Indians, this house is the oldest structure in the vicinity. Nearby were a church, school, and some Indian dwellings. The first Dutch settlers in 1846-47 lodged here and in the Fairbanks' cabin on the knoll to the southeast. As the Dutch settlement grew, Smith and the Indians moved away and established a new village on Grand Traverse Bay. Isaac Fairbanks remained in the area and was active in the settlement of Holland."   PILGRIM HOME CEMETERY, SIXTEENTH STREET, is the resting ground of many settlers and their descendants. The graves of Albertus C. Van Raalte and his wife, Christina DeMoen Van Raalte, are designated by a historical marker on the north side of Sixteenth Street. The site of the first log church of the community is also marked. Two famous missionary sons of the colonists, Samuel M. Zwemer and Albertus Pieters, are also buried in this cemetery. Worthy of notice is the cemetery's Civil War Memorial Marker.