Part V - Government, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.

FIRST CITY OFFICIALS ELECTED APRIL 12, 1869
By Jim Brusskotter - Managing Editor


The first Big Rapids city officials were elected on April 12, 1869.

The first council meeting was held in an unknown location on April 22, 1869, just two days before the fire that destroyed everything on the west side of Michigan Avenue between Elm and Maple except the Mason House at the corner of Michigan and Maple.

Later in 1869, Pioneer accounts show that the city was paying E.T. Clark to hold council meetings in his store on the west side of Michigan between Elm and Linden at a cost of $4 per month.

In 1870 council meetings were being held on the second floor of T.D. Stimpson's store just south of Clark's facility at a cost of $6.25 per month.

Still later, city directories of 1897 and 1913 indicate city offices were located at 101 Maple Street which would have been in the far west end of the Northern Hotel at the northeast corner of Michigan and Maple.

That distinction is verified by a 1914 Sanborn insurance map which shows city offices at 101-103 Maple Street.

The city council was meeting in the Northern Hotel when it burned down in 1919.

A new city hall was constructed on the southeast corner of Michigan and Pine in 1922 where several additions and alterations have been made since.

Editor's Note: Long-time city employee Roger Schneidt and county historian Jim Wood contributed to this report.

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