The Early History of Rockford
The early history of Rockford really begins almost co-incidentally with the history of Kent County which was formed by an act of this Territorial Legislature in 1831. There were of course numerous pioneers in this district of Michigan at this time but none stayed permanently and established a home in the neighborhood that later was incorporated as Rockford.
After the village of Grand Rapids had attained importance to be designated as the County Seat of the newly formed Kent Co. business men from the East gravitated into it in quest of a fortune. They were a different type from the hunters and trappers who first penetrated the wilderness and gained a more or less precarious living from hunting the game that abounded in the Grand River valley. They cruized in all directions seeking opportunities for the location of mills to produce lumber which was in great demand at this time for the erection of homes for the rapidly increasing population of the frontier West.
Merlin Hunter was one of these timber cruizers in the employ of financiers from New York. He came up the Grand River, which was a thoroughfare at that early date in the uncharted wilderness that lined its banks. He followed up the Rouge River to inspect the stand of cork pine which grew in its valley and to locate a likely place for a water power mill to convert this timber into lumber in the most economical way, and to float it to market. He found such a place to his liking at this point on the Rouge River and in the year 1839 he and his brother, started the erection of a dam. Evidently their efforts were not entirely successful, and the next year they were joined by Smith Lapham, a construction engineer who was wan experienced builder. Mr. Lapham, familiarly known as Squire Lapham in later years was a shrewd Yankee from Rhode Island, who emigrated to the new county from Washtenaw County near Detroit.
Lapham was a real business man, the dam was a success and the mill which they erected prospered and sawed all the timber that was cut in the immediate neighborhood. Lapham purchased eighty acres from the state as soon as the land was surveyed and placed on the market, and this eighty comprised the original plat of the village which gradually grew about the mill housing the operators of the mill and the lumberjacks who handled the timber. We find very meagre records of the early years of this hamlet but it came to be known as Laphamville and was granted a post office under this name in 1845 with Smith Lapham as Postmaster. He had no mail bag and the mail was so voluminous that he had no difficulty in carrying it in the pocket of his coat one a week from Plainfield which at that time was known as Austerlitz.
It was eight years from the erection of the mill, before there were settlers enough in this neighborhood to warrant the starting of a store here, during which time all the necessary supplies were brought up the Grand River to the landing at Plainfield and then carried or carted to the mill over the almost impassable roads. We can imagine the excitement that prevailed in this small community when they heard that White and Rathbun had decided to start a general store here in 1848. By the year 1850 the village had grown to sufficient size so that a regular plat was recorded at the County seat. The entries of this plat from our present standpoint were ridiculous and have served to muddle many of the descriptions of our property even to this day. Such landmarks as "an oak stump standing on the river bank at the east end of the dam" or "a large stone found at the corner of land owned by John Doe" or "commencing at a point on the south bank of Rum Creek" were very common, but they served their purpose in those days and satisfied the purchasers of the lots.
There must, however been some objection to this loose way of describing property, for we find that the village was re-platted in 1865, at the close of the Civil War, and at that time the name was changed from Laphamville to Rockford. This change of name must have occasioned some controversy, as Smith Lapham had been the most prominent citizen of the burg during all these years and had served as Township Supervisor for a number of terms. However the next year (1866) the village was duly incorporated under that name by an act of the Board of Supervisors. Smith Lapham was its first president, George French, its clerk and J. W. Smith, the treasurer.
At the time of its incorporation Rockford contained seventeen business places, including a wagon and carriage factory, a foundry, a cooper shop, two livery stables, two hotels, and saw and planing mills and a thriving grist mill which was built in 1852 by Chase and Judson and which furnished most of the flour for the lumber camps of the "north woods."
The main highway from Grand Rapids to Muskegon, ran thru Rockford. It was authorized by the Territorial Legislature in 1839, but it was scarcely fit for travel even as late as 1854. The occasion for incorporation was undoubtedly the opening of the new railroad, the Grand Rapids and Indiana with Cedar Springs as its terminus which took place in 1866. By this time Rockford was the shopping center of for numerous mills and small communities scattered throughout Algoma, Courtland, Cannon, and Plainfield townships, a position which she proudly holds even to this day. Her business men have always been noted for civic mindedness they display and their ability to co-operate for the benefit of the town as a whole.
Transcriber: Jennifer Godwin
Created: 4 February 2000