County note shelf
Ottawa County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Ottawa County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 43 local stories.
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- History and cultureTwo Dutch landmarks sit outside Holland's city lineNelis' Dutch Village and Veldheer Tulip Gardens carry Holland's Dutch story into Holland Charter Township, north of the city proper.
- History and cultureBig Red: the Dutch-roofed lighthouse that wasn't always redHolland's Big Red lighthouse guards the channel between Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa, wears a gabled Dutch roof, and only turned red in 1956.
- History and cultureHow a citizens' committee put a university in an Allendale cornfieldGrand Valley State began in 1960 with a businessman's volunteer committee, opened in 1963 with 226 students on an 876-acre Allendale site by the Grand River.
- History and cultureThe Grand Haven catwalk that townspeople refused to let rust awayGrand Haven's south pier carries two red lights and an elevated catwalk that keepers once used in storms; locals raised the money to save it from demolition.
- OutdoorsThe Ottawa County park groomed for skiing under the lightsPigeon Creek Park near West Olive grooms more than ten miles of cross-country ski trails through old pine plantations, with several miles lit for night skiing.
- OutdoorsBass River: the gravel pits that grew back into a wild placeBass River Recreation Area in Ottawa County reclaimed an old field of gravel pits along the Grand River into miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
- OutdoorsConnor Bayou: a mile of boardwalk over the Grand River's backwaterConnor Bayou in Robinson Township carries a riverfront boardwalk along the Grand River's wetlands, with an overlook deck, a kayak launch, and remnant prairie.
- History and cultureCoopersville: the man who bought a name with a railroad depotCoopersville is named for Benjamin Cooper, a New York settler who donated land for a railroad station in exchange for the town carrying his name.
- History and cultureCoopersville's barn full of John DeeresThe Coopersville Farm Museum keeps west Michigan's rural past alive with a collection of John Deere tractors, a Wednesday farmers market, and Then-and-Now farm exhibits.
- History and cultureFerrysburg: the town the Ferry sons platted at the river's mouthWilliam M. Ferry Jr. and Thomas White Ferry platted the village on January 26, 1857. The post office settled the spelling as Ferrysburg two years later.
- History and cultureGeorgetown was George's mill town before it was Jenison'sGeorgetown Township took its name from George Ketchum's sawmills on Rush Creek, while early settler Hiram Jenison gave his family name to the community of Jenison.
- History and cultureGrand Haven's old depot, where the last train left in 1958The 1870 Grand Trunk depot on Grand Haven's waterfront was the railroad's western terminus; after the last train left in 1958 it became the Tri-Cities Historical Museum.
- History and cultureGrand Haven's volunteer-built musical fountainBuilt by volunteers in 1962 and performing since May 1963, the Grand Haven Musical Fountain was once billed as the world's largest; its official history says it held that title until 1998.
- History and cultureHow Allendale ended up named for Ethan Allen's daughter-in-lawAllendale Township was named for Agnes Allen, whose late husband was a son of Ethan Allen, after a state senator replaced the settlers' proposed name, Malta.
- History and cultureJamestown got its name from four men named JamesA local history records four men named James among the thirteen present when Jamestown Township organized in 1849, so the new township took their shared first name.
- History and cultureLamont's road-grader naming storyLocal history says Steele's Landing became Lamont after Lamont Chubb offered the community a road grader in exchange for using his name.
- History and cultureMarne used to be Berlin — until a 1918 battle changed its nameThe Wright Township village of Marne spent decades as Berlin, settled by Germans — until anti-German feeling in World War I renamed it for a French battlefield, a name its racetrack still wears.
- History and cultureNunica means the clay the Odawa made pots fromThe Crockery Township village of Nunica takes its name from an Ottawa word for the potter's clay found in the area — the very same clay that gave Crockery Creek and the township their name.
- History and cultureOttawa County restored the poor-farm cemetery at EastmanvilleThe historic cemetery at Ottawa County's former poor farm was restored with new markers, a path, and a fence, then rededicated in July 2010.
- Rules and licensesPark Township keeps short-term rentals in its C-2 resort districtPark Township's code lists short-term rentals in the C-2 Resort Service District, not as a general residential use; a 2025 circuit-court ruling backed the township's position.
- OutdoorsPark Township's 1937 airport is becoming a prairieOne of Michigan's earliest community airports flew small planes off a grass strip near Holland for over 80 years; after a 2020 decision to close it, the township is turning the runway into native prairie.
- History and culturePort Sheldon: the boomtown that was supposed to rival ChicagoIn 1835 Eastern investors poured a fortune into Port Sheldon, building a grand hotel and a lighthouse to rival Chicago — and within a decade it was a ghost town.
- History and cultureSpring Lake was Mill Point first, named for its 25 sawmillsSpring Lake began as Mill Point, a lumber village of some 25 sawmills incorporated in 1849, and took the gentler name Spring Lake in 1869.
- History and cultureThe 48 bells that ring over Allendale's campusGrand Valley State University's Cook Carillon Tower, built in 1994, holds 48 bronze bells cast in the Netherlands and rings out over the Allendale campus.
- History and cultureThe Ottawa County poor farm at Eastmanville, now a park you can walkA county park on the Grand River at Eastmanville was once Ottawa County's poor farm, where people with nowhere else to go lived and worked the land for well over a century.
- History and cultureThe Spring Lake hotel that found mineral water while drilling for saltDrillers chasing salt under Spring Lake hit mineral water instead, and the 150-room Spring Lake House grew up around it — a national resort until fire took it in 1916.
- OutdoorsThe swinging bridge over Grand RavinesGrand Ravines park near Jenison holds a 275-foot pedestrian suspension bridge strung high over a deep wooded ravine cut by the Grand River's tributaries.
- History and cultureThe world's modern office chair was born in a Zeeland bedroom-furniture shopHerman Miller started in 1905 as Zeeland's Star Furniture, making ornate wooden bedrooms — until the Depression pushed it toward the modern designs that reshaped how the world works.
- History and cultureWhen Zeeland shipped ten million baby chicks a yearFrom the 1920s into the 1950s Zeeland was a baby-chick capital, with dozens of hatcheries mailing millions of day-old chicks across the country — and one founded in 1913 still runs.
- History and cultureHudsonville Ice Cream started as a farmers' co-op for milkHudsonville Ice Cream grew out of an 1895 dairy cooperative, began scooping in 1926, and now runs its big plant in Holland after stops in Burnips.
- OutdoorsThe 36-mile trail being stitched along the Grand River to the lakeOttawa County is building the Idema Explorers Trail, a planned 36.5-mile non-motorized path along the Grand River linking Grand Rapids to Grand Haven through riverside parks and old farmland.
- History and cultureCoopersville: a farm town, a tourist train, and the home of "Runaway"Coopersville's passenger train follows six miles of track first laid in 1858, while its former interurban depot keeps the town's railroad and Del Shannon stories together.
- History and cultureGrand Haven: the first Coast Guard CityGrand Haven was the first community recognized as a Coast Guard City, and its waterfront traditions include the Coast Guard Festival and Musical Fountain.
- Home and propertyHolland's local utility heats parts of downtownHolland's community-owned utility uses waste heat from power generation to warm a downtown snowmelt system, but utility and snowmelt coverage both depend on the address.
- History and cultureHudsonville: "Michigan's Salad Bowl"Hudsonville's Salad Bowl nickname comes from Dutch settlers draining muck fields into productive vegetable farmland.
- Home and propertyIn Grand Haven, the city runs your electricity (and melts the downtown snow)Grand Haven has its own municipal electric utility, and its downtown snowmelt system helps keep streets and sidewalks clear in winter.
- Rules and licensesShort-term rentals in Grand Haven: allowed, but only in certain spotsGrand Haven allows short-term rentals only in specific zones, with annual registration and inspection required.
- Rules and licensesThinking of a short-term rental near the Holland lakeshore? Check the rules firstPark Township's short-term-rental rules near the Holland lakeshore are strict, active, and worth checking by exact property.
- History and cultureWhy Holland is so Dutch — tulips, a windmill, and an 1847 beginningHolland's Dutch identity traces to its 1847 founding, Tulip Time, and De Zwaan, the working Dutch windmill on Windmill Island.
- History and cultureZeeland: a tiny Dutch town that builds world-famous thingsZeeland's Dutch roots run deep, and the small city is home to major design and manufacturing names like MillerKnoll, Gentex, and Howard Miller.
- History and culture"Runaway": A Coopersville Carpet Salesman's Worldwide #1Del Shannon — born Charles Westover, raised in Coopersville — turned his 1961 song 'Runaway' into a #1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
- OutdoorsGrand Haven's Red Catwalk: A Lake Michigan PostcardTwo fire-engine-red lighthouses and a long catwalk marching into Lake Michigan — maybe the most photographed scene on Michigan's whole coast.
- Outdoors'Big Red': Holland's Beloved (and Not-Always-Red) IconHolland's beloved Dutch-gabled icon, guarding a hand-dug channel into Lake Michigan — and famous for a coat of red it didn't wear until 1956.
- History and cultureA working Dutch windmill crossed the Atlantic to MichiganHolland calls De Zwaan America's only authentic working Dutch windmill. It was built in 1884 with some older parts and moved to Michigan in 1964.
- History and cultureFive Million Tulips Bloom in One Michigan Town Every MayHolland, Michigan throws the longest-running tulip festival in the U.S. — five million-plus tulips every May, a tradition begun in 1929.
- OutdoorsWhy Is Michigan Water So... Different? (No Sharks, No Salt, and "Lake-Effect" Everything)The Great Lakes are freshwater — no salt, no sharks — and the same lakes that bury Michigan's west side in 'lake-effect' snow also create its cherry-and-apple fruit belt.
- History and cultureThe Melon Heads of SaugatuckThe Melon Heads legend warns of deformed children loose in the woods near Saugatuck's Felt Mansion — but the asylum at its center never existed.
- History and cultureWhy everyone's moving to Ottawa CountyOttawa County — Lake Michigan beaches, the Grand River, Tulip Time, and top-rated communities — has been Michigan's fastest-growing county for years running.
- Rules and licensesCan you run an Airbnb here? Your city or township decidesMichigan leaves short-term rental rules to each city or township, so Airbnb and Vrbo rules can change from one community to the next.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.