HOLLAND, MICHIGAN

'Holland' is a city in the western region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on Lake Macatawa and the Macatawa River and on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The city spans the Ottawa/Allegan county line, with 9.08 square miles in Ottawa and the remaining 8.13 square miles in Allegan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 35,048, with an Urbanized Area population of 91,795.^[1] The city is the largest municipality of the Holland-Grand Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, with had an estimate population of 257,671 as of July 1,2006.
Holland has a large percentage of citizens of Dutch American heritage, many who still practice forms of the Dutch Reformed faith brought by the original settlers. It is home to Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, institutions of the Reformed Church in America. The city is best known for its Tulip Time Festival, nationally-recognized downtown, and rich Dutch history.

Contents

History

Culture

Geography

Demographics

Background

Mayor

Education

Tulip Time Festival

Gallery

Transportation

Media

Newspapers

Radio

Athletics

Sister cities

Notable residents

Notes

External links

History

Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus van Raalte, who were escaping from persecution in The Netherlands. Van Raalte chose the land due to its proximity to the Black River where it streamed to Black Lake (now Lake Macatawa) which, in turn, led to Lake Michigan. The land was inhabited by the Ottawa, which after a cultural clash with the new Dutch settlers relocated to Northport, Michigan. In Holland's early history, Van Raalte was a spiritual leader, as well as overseeing political, educational and financial matters. In 1847 Van Raalte established a congregation of the Reformed Church in America, which would later be called the First Reformed Church of Holland. In 1867, Holland was incorporated as a city with Isaac Cappon being the city's first mayor.
The city suffered a major fire on October 8–9, 1871, the same time as the Great Chicago Fire in Illinois and the very deadly Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin.

The city has a strong religious base since its founding. Before the introduction of the Tulip Time festival, Holland was known as the "City of Churches." There are 170 churches in Holland, many of which are affiliated with the Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church in North America denominations. The city is the home of the What would Jesus do? bracelets that kicked off the trend in 1989.
Holland retains some ties with the Netherlands. The city was visited by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1952, by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1982, and by Princess Margriet of the Netherlands in 1997. Juliana (while still Princess) received an honorary doctorate from Hope College in 1944.
In 1987, 23-year-old recent Hope College graduate and City Council member Phil Tanis was elected mayor of Holland, becoming its youngest mayor.

Culture

The city is home to the Holland Museum, which administers three museum facilities in the city. The first, the Holland Museum, is located in the former post office downtown and contains exhibits about the history of the city and the region. Another, The Cappon House Museum, was built in 1874 and is a historic museum that once housed the first mayor of Holland, influential Dutch immigrant Isaac Cappon. The Settlers House Museum, one of the few homes to survive the 1871 fire, contains furnishings and relics from the 19th Century and illustrates life for the city's working class in the early days of the city.

Holland is home to the world's largest pickle factory. The H.J. Heinz Company has operated the factory at the same location since 1897 and currently processes over 1 million pounds of pickles per day during the green season.
Holland's downtown is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The "Snowmelt Project" established pipes transporting warm water from the nearby power plant to travel underneath downtown with the purpose of clearing the streets and sidewalks in the downtown area of any snow. Nearby Holland State Park is among the most visited parks in the state. Across the channel from the park is the Holland Harbor Light, known as "Big Red", one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan. De Zwaan, an original 250-year-old Dutch windmill, is situated on Windmill Island, a municipal park. Its height is 125 feet with 40 foot sails.
Holland was the unlikely birthplace of Slashdot, an influential early Internet weblog created by Hope College student Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda.
CNN Money named Holland as one of the top five places to retire.^[2]

Geography

Holland is on the shores of Lake Macatawa and is near the shore of Lake Michigan.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 35,048 people, 11,971 households, and 7,924 families residing in the city. The population density was 816.7/km² (2,115.3/mi²). There were 12,533 housing units at an average density of 292.0/km² (756.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.18% White, 2.53% African American, 0.58% Native American, 3.56% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 12.41% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.21% of the population.
There were 11,971 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 26.8% of all households are made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 15.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,291, and the median income for a family was $50,316. Males had a median income of $36,339 versus $26,481 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,823. About 6.7% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Background

Mayor

The current mayor of Holland is Albert H. McGeehan, serving the city since 1993. He graduated from Hope College in 1966. In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush gave him the nickname, "Mayor Al" and the name has since stuck. McGeehan was first elected to city council in 1977, where he served four terms. He is currently in his sixth term in as mayor of the city.

Education

★ Higher level academic institutions

★
★ Hope College, a private four-year liberal arts college

★
★ Western Theological Seminary a graduate and professional school

★
★ Western Michigan University has a branch campus in Holland.

★
★ Grand Valley State University has a campus in Holland. The land was donated to the GVSU by the Meijer family.

★
★ Davenport University has a Regional campus in Holland

★ Public Schools

★
★ Holland Public Schools

★
★ West Ottawa Public Schools, which serve the townships that make up Holland's suburban "north side".

★
★ Black River Public School, a charter school with elementary, secondary, and high school students.

★
★ Vanderbilt Charter Academy (K-8).

★ Private Schools

★
★ Holland Christian Schools

★
★ Corpus Christi Catholic School

★
★ Calvary Schools of Holland

Tulip Time Festival

Main articles: Tulip Time Festival


Each May Holland hosts an annual Tulip Time Festival. Tulip planting and the festival began in 1930 when 250,000 tulips were planted for the event.[2] Currently six million tulips are used throughout the city. Tulips are planted along many city streets, in city parks and outside municipal buildings as well as at tourist attractions like Dutch Village, the city-owned Windmill Island park, and at a large tulip farm named Veldheer Tulip Gardens.
It is normally held the second week of May, right when the numerous tulips planted around the town are blooming. The festival lasts for over a week and features three parades: the ''Volksparade'', usually led by the state governor with a broom as townspeople in Dutch costume wash the street; the ''Kinderparade'', featuring local children dressed in traditional Dutch costume and wooden shoes; and the ''Muziekparade'' of marching bands that come from local high schools, to regional to national. Some bands even come as far as New York to march in the Muziekparade. The festival includes fireworks, musical shows and 1,000-2,000 klompen dancers dance on city streets in traditional wooden shoes (klompen), some of whom go on to represent Holland nationally. Churches and schools are used to provide Dutch meals to tour groups. About one million tourists visit Tulip Time each year. It has been ranked as America's third largest town festival and was named Reader's Digest's best small town festival.[3] The Tulip Time Festival has attracted big name acts in recent years such as: Christina Aguilera in 2000, O-Town in 2001, The Verve Pipe in 2004, and Jars of Clay in 2006. Ed McMahon visited Tulip Time in 2007 along with Bobby Vinton.

Gallery

Transportation

The city is serviced by two public airports, the recreational Park Township Airport , and the larger, corporate and charter jet Tulip City Airport . Neither facility is served by regularly scheduled commercial carriers. The city is also served by regularly scheduled Amtrak service (the ''Pere Marquette'') east to Grand Rapids and west to Chicago with connections to all points east and west.
The city is served by the MAX (Macatawa Area Express) bus system. Which offers both fixed routes linking different parts of the city as well as large commercial centers outside the city, which is the former Dial-A-Ride system.
The city is served by the following state trunklines:

★ Interstate 196 (Gerald R. Ford Freeway)

★ Interstate 196 Business (Holland, Michigan)

★ U.S. Highway 31

★
U.S. Route 31 Business (Holland, Michigan)

★ M-40

★ Old M-21

Media

Newspapers

★ ''Holland Sentinel'' - Holland's local daily newspaper

★ ''Grand Rapids Press'' - has maintained a Holland newsroom and circulation office since the 1980s.

★ ''The Flashes - Serves Ottawa and Allegan counties for the Holland Area.

★ ''The Suburban Review - Senior Citizen Newspaper
'Holland Sentinel Website'

★ Holland Sentinel

Radio

★ ''WHTC'' - Holland's Hometown Station 1450 AM Station - Official website WHTC Website

★ ''WYVN'' - Holland's Home for Classic Rock 92.7FM - Official website WYVN Website

★ ''WKLQ'' - Rockin' The Lakeshore 107.3FM Pure Rock - Listen Online at Official Website

★ ''WTHS'' - Hope College Radio Station 89.9FM Official Website

★ ''WJQK'' - Contemporary Christian music station on 99.3 FM. - Listen Online at Official Website

★ ''WPNW'' - Christian talk on 1260 AM.

★ ''LakeshoreRadio.net'' - The Lakeshore's Music Station streaming live online.

★ ''WTNR'' - Thunder 94.5 New Country - Official Website [4] Listen Online

Athletics

'Logo'	'Club'	'Sport'	'League'	'Venue'	'Championships'
	Holland Blast	Basketball	International Basketball League	Holland Civic Center	None

Sister cities

★ Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

Notable residents

★ Scott Baker, an ARCA driver.

★ Author L. Frank Baum composed his most famous work, ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', while summering in the resort community of Macatawa. Several Holland landmarks are said to have inspired parts of the book and ensuing movie, including the castle at Castle Park and South Shore Drive (which in the 1920s was paved in brick and spiraled to an end at Macatawa).

★ Science writer Paul de Kruif ("Microbe Hunters", etc.) retired to Holland and died there in 1971.

★ Herman Stegeman, varsity coach and athletics director at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens.

★ Sufjan Stevens, a singer-songwriter who attended Hope College, details the city in the song "Holland" on his 2003 concept album, ''Michigan''.

★ Mary Jeanne van Appledorn, composer, pianist, and educator (b. 1927)

★ Andy Van Hekken, a professional baseball player who pitched a complete game shutout in his first professional start with the Detroit Tigers in September, 2002.

★ Gerrard W. Haworth (d. 2006), industrialist; founder of office furniture manufacturer Haworth Company.

★ Peter "Pete" Hoekstra, U.S. Congressman from Michigan's 2nd Congressional District; chairman of House Intelligence Committee, 2004-2007.

★ David G. Myers, psychologist; author.

★ Milton Nieuwsma, author; filmwriter-producer.

★ Ron Schipper (d. 2006), college football coach; member of College Football Hall of Fame.

Notes

1. [1]
2. Best places to retire

External links

★ City of Holland website

★ Holland Visitors site

★ Tulip Time Festival

★ Holland Area Chamber of Commerce

★ Dutch Village Family Theme Park