20 Facts About Grand Rapids

1. Grand Rapids was a home to one of the first regularly scheduled passenger airlines in the United States when Stout Air Services began flights from the old Grand Rapids airport to Detroit, on July 31, 1926.

2. Grand Rapids is home to the Secchia Center medical education building, a $90 million, seven-story, 180,000-square-foot facility, at Michigan Street and Division Avenue, part of the Grand Rapids Medical Mile.

3. Grand Rapids is home of the oldest co-educational Catholic high school in the United States, Catholic Central High School.

4. Grand Rapids is home to the United Methodist Community House, whose mission is to increase the ability of children, youth, adults and families to succeed in a diverse community.

5. Grand Rapids was chosen over finalist cities Davenport, Iowa and Hoover, Alabama.

6. Grand Rapids has long been a center for furniture manufacturing.

7. Grand Rapids Press is a daily newspaper, while Advance Newspapers publishes a group of weekly papers providing community-based news.

8. Grand Rapids is home to Art Prize, the largest art exposition in the US Art Prize began in 2009 with the over 200,000 visitors and has since doubled the number of visitors it receives each year.

9. In 2014, Grand Rapids was named the No 1 US travel destination by Lonely Planet.

10. Grand Rapids is home to many theaters and stages, including the newly reconstructed Civic Theatre, the city's largest theater; DeVos Hall, and the convertible Van Andel Arena.

11. In 2013, Grand Rapids was the sole winner of "Beer City USA", taking the prize with more votes than those combined for the second-place Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the third-place Asheville, North Carolina.

12. Grand Rapids is divided into four quadrants, which form a part of mailing addresses in Kent County.

13. Grand Rapids developed on the banks of the Grand River, where there was once a set of rapids, at an altitude of 610 feet above sea level.

14. In 1945, Grand Rapids became the first city in the United States to add fluoride to its drinking water.

15. Grand Rapids was an early center for the automobile industry, as the Austin Automobile Company operated here from 1901 until 1921.

16. In October 1870, Grand Rapids became a desired location for immigrants, with about 120 Swedes arriving in the United States to travel and create a "colony" in the area in one week.

17. The city of Grand Rapids was incorporated April 2, 1850.

18. Grand Rapids represented the settlers who began arriving from Ohio, New York and New England, the Yankee states of the Northern Tier.

19. Grand Rapids is the childhood home of US President Gerald Ford, who is buried with his wife Betty on the grounds of the Gerald R Ford Presidential Museum in the city.

20. Grand Rapids is the second-largest city in Michigan, and the largest city in West Michigan.