Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, capital of Kent county, Michigan, stands at the head of steamboat navigation on Grand River, here crossed by six bridges, and at the junction of several railways, 60 miles WNW. of Lansing. The river, which enters Lake Michigan 40 miles below, here falls 18 feet in a mile, and across it extend the rapids which give name to the town. Conducted by canals, it supplies motive-power to numerous sawmills and manufactories of furniture and wooden ware, farming implements, flour, machinery, &c., though steam is now in use in most of the factories; gypsum-quarries near the town supply abundant material for stucco-plaster and kindred preparations. White bricks are also largely made here, and many of the houses and churches are built of them. The city is the seat of an Episcopal bishop. Pop. (1870) 16,507; (1880) 32,016; (1885) 41,934; (1890) 60,278.