Kent County,
Municipality by Municipality

Grand Rapids, starting January 25, 1945, as part of a ten year study run with the U.S. Public Health Service, the Michigan Department of Health, and the University of Michigan. By 1955 tooth decay among local children had dropped about 65 percent, and fluoridation spread from there. Source

On the Grand River in Grand Rapids. On July 24, 1880 the Grand Rapids Electric Light and Power Company connected a dynamo to a water wheel at the Wolverine Chair Factory and lit 16 brush arc lamps, along with a hotel, a jewelry store and an opera house across the river. Source

The first successful whooping cough vaccine. Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering worked out of the Michigan Department of Health laboratory in Grand Rapids, collecting samples from sick families at night by kerosene lamp, and ran the first large scale controlled trial of a pertussis vaccine. Michigan was distributing it by 1940. Source

In Grand Rapids. Kellogg's brought the concept to the Hekman Biscuit plant, later Keebler, where plant manager Bill Post assembled a team that turned it into a shelf stable product in about four months. They reached stores in 1964 in strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon and apple currant. Source

Studio 28 on 28th Street in Wyoming opened Christmas Day 1965 with a single 1,000 seat auditorium and grew to 20 screens by 1988, making it the first megaplex and, for several years, the largest movie theater in the country. Source

Still debated Frank Edward McGurrin was born in Grand Rapids in 1861 and famously beat an eight finger typist in an 1888 Cincinnati contest without looking at the keys, which put touch typing on front pages nationwide. Whether he actually invented the method or was simply the first to be noticed doing it is still argued. Source

Anna Bissell took over the Bissell carpet sweeper company in Grand Rapids after her husband Melville died in 1889, and she is widely described as the first woman CEO of a major American company. Melville had patented the sweeper in 1876 to deal with sawdust ground into their shop floor carpet. Source

At 28th Street and Kalamazoo Avenue in Grand Rapids. In June 1962 Meijer added 80,000 square feet and 25 departments to an existing supermarket and called it Thrifty Acres, a store the company credits with pioneering the format. Source

La Grande Vitesse was the first civic sculpture paid for with a mix of federal and private money. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded Grand Rapids a $45,000 grant in 1967 under its brand new public art program, and local donors covered the rest. Source

Wolverine World Wide launched Hush Puppies in 1958 using pigskin suede developed during wartime work for the Navy. A sales story about tossing hush puppies to quiet barking dogs gave the shoes their name and their basset hound logo, since they were pitched as relief for barking feet. Source

Five dollars. Signs on the Fallasburg Bridge still warn of a five dollar fine for riding or driving faster than a walk. The 100 foot Brown truss span was built in 1871 for about $1,500 and still carries cars under a three ton limit. Source

Steelcase purchased the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids in 1985 and reopened it in 1987 after a full restoration. Wright designed the Prairie style home in 1908 for a local clothier, and it is often called the most complete Wright restoration anywhere. Source

Not for well over a century. Nineteenth century dams and limestone quarrying flattened the namesake rapids on the Grand River. In July 2025 the city began removing four low head dams downtown to bring the whitewater back, after roughly 18 years of planning. Source

About 92 miles. The Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park runs from Comstock Park to Cadillac on the old Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad grade, passing through roughly 15 towns, and it is now fully paved. Source

Roger B. Chaffee, born February 15, 1935 and a graduate of Grand Rapids Central High School. He was selected as an astronaut in 1963 and died in the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967 before ever flying in space. Source

Floyd Mayweather Jr., born there on February 24, 1977 into a boxing family. He retired with a professional record of 50 wins and no losses. Source

In the winter of 1936 a New York Sun writer complained that nobody in the country still sold old fashioned red flannels. The editors of the Cedar Springs Clipper wrote back that their town certainly did, the Associated Press carried it nationwide, and orders poured in. The first Red Flannel Day followed in 1939. Source

The Grand Rapids Public Museum, founded in 1854 as the Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History. Its earliest holdings were cabinets of curiosities gathered by local figures including John Ball, and in 1971 it became the first museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. Source

In two house basements in Ada. Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel founded the company in 1959, and their first product was a biodegradable cleaner called Liquid Organic Cleaner. Source

No, though he grew up there. He was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska on July 14, 1913, came to Grand Rapids as a small child, and did not legally change his name to Gerald R. Ford Jr. until 1935. He is buried on the grounds of his museum in Grand Rapids. Source

Still debated The title came from an online reader poll run by Examiner.com, not from any brewing authority. Grand Rapids tied with Asheville, North Carolina in 2012, won outright in 2013, and the poll was retired afterward, which is why the label has stuck ever since. Source