Article: Grand Rapids - grand furniture. (Michigan's furniture industry)(includes related article)(1896-1996: Wood & Wood Products Centennial)

Grand Rapids - which proudly calls itself the "Furniture Capital of America" - is named for the rapids on the Grand River, which drop the river a distance of 8 feet at that location before sending it on another 25 miles to Lake Michigan. The point at which it was founded was the best place to ford the river, first by Indians, then by pioneers, finally by roads. The river has a wide floodplain, on which development first occurred. Today's downtown area in the floodplain is protected by concrete walls that keep the river within its bounds. The river as transportation and the great forests of Michigan as a material source, replacing the depleted eastern forests, were all that ...

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