County Past
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Kent County, Michigan

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

—newspaper titles
—digitized titles
59historic places
—earliest paper
1831formed
657,974pop. 2020
106cemeteries
—CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The National Register of Historic Places includes 59 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1966; 1 is also National Historic Landmark. Most listings are in or near Grand Rapids, Lowell, Cascade Township.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers

Library of Congress

Newspaper directory data for Michigan is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Kent titles at the Library of Congress.

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

38 of 59 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

59 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
Ada Covered BridgeAdaStructure1970
Aldrich BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1982
Aldrich, Godfrey, and White BlockGrand RapidsBuilding1999
Alten, Mathias., House and StudioGrand RapidsBuilding2009
American Box Board Company Headquarters and FactoryGrand RapidsBuilding2020
American Seating Company Factory ComplexGrand RapidsBuilding2003
Auburn Hills Historic DistrictGrand RapidsDistrict2025
Berkey and Gay Furniture Company FactoryGrand RapidsBuilding2000
Blodgett, John W., EstateEast Grand RapidsBuilding1983
Business Route M-21-Plaster Creek BridgeWyomingStructure1999
Central Furniture Company-H.E. Shaw Furniture Company FactoryGrand RapidsBuilding2013
Clipper Belt Lacer Company ComplexGrand RapidsBuilding2023
Dean, Irving Andrew and Olive Crane Kendall, HouseGrand RapidsBuilding2023
Division Avenue-Plaster Creek BridgeGrand RapidsStructure1999
Downtown Lowell Historic DistrictLowellDistrict1999
Eastern Avenue SchoolGrand RapidsBuilding2013
Fallasburg Covered BridgeLowellStructure1972
Fallasburg Historic DistrictVergennes TownshipDistrict1999
Fine Arts BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1982
First (Park) Congregational ChurchGrand RapidsBuilding1982
Ford, President Gerald R., Jr., Boyhood HomeGrand RapidsBuilding1995
Fulton ManorGrand RapidsBuilding2021
Goodspeed Brothers BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1980
Graham HouseLowellBuilding1972
Grand Rapids Christian High SchoolGrand RapidsBuilding2018
Grand Rapids Savings Bank BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1990
Grand Rapids Storage and Van Company BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding2012
Heartside Historic DistrictGrand RapidsDistrict1982
Heartside Historic District (Boundary Increase)Grand RapidsDistrict2022
Heritage Hill Historic DistrictGrand RapidsDistrict1971
Keeler BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding2017
Kent County Civil War MonumentGrand RapidsObject2004
Ladies' Literary ClubGrand RapidsBuilding1971
Ledyard Block Historic DistrictGrand RapidsDistrict1983
Lexington SchoolGrand RapidsBuilding2013
Loraine BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1982
Medical Arts BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding2000
Metal Office Furniture Company (Steelcase) Plants No. 2 and 3Grand RapidsBuilding2004
Michigan Trust Company BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1983
Monroe Avenue Water Filtration PlantGrand RapidsBuilding2002
Mt. Mercy Academy and ConventGrand RapidsDistrict1993
Norton Mound Group NHLGrand RapidsSite1966
Paddock, Augustus, HouseGrand RapidsBuilding1985
Peck BlockGrand RapidsBuilding2000
Pike, Abram W., HouseGrand RapidsBuilding1970
Porter Hollow Embankment and CulvertAlgoma TownshipStructure2001
Rood BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding1988
Saint Joseph SeminaryGrand RapidsDistrict2019
Sisters of the Order of Saint Dominic Motherhouse ComplexGrand RapidsDistrict2022
Sixth Street BridgeGrand RapidsStructure1976
Sligh Furniture Company BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding2023
St. Cecilia Society Building (Additional Documentation)Grand RapidsBuilding1971
Third Reformed ChurchGrand RapidsBuilding1982
Thornapple River Drive BridgeCascade TownshipStructure1990
Turner HouseGrand RapidsBuilding1970
U.S. Post OfficeGrand RapidsBuilding1974
Villa MariaGrand RapidsBuilding1987
Whitney Tavern StandCascade TownshipBuilding2007
Willard BuildingGrand RapidsBuilding2013

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Kent was formed in 1831 (1831-03-02) from Michilimackinac.

KENT created by Michigan Territory from MICHILIMACKINAC (now MACKINAC) and Non-County Area 5 attached to KALAMAZOO.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

Kent County population from 1840 to 2020 (Census historical series).

658k330k2,5871840188019201930196020002020
18401860188019001920194019501960198020002020
2,58730,71673,253129,714183,041246,338288,292363,187444,506574,335657,974

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

106 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 80 of 106 listed
NameLatLon
Ada Cemetery42.9623-85.50473
Ahavas Israel Cemetery42.99622-85.69939
Alaska Memorial Cemetery42.83928-85.48546
Algoma Township Cemetery43.15641-85.62531
Alpine Center Cemetery43.07252-85.72864
Alton Cemetery43.01697-85.35089
Ashley Cemetery43.11805-85.33333
Barber Cemetery42.7903-85.45446
Blain Cemetery42.84188-85.63365
Blood Cemetery42.99221-85.70555
Blythefield Memory Gardens43.07646-85.56685
Bowne Center Cemetery42.81322-85.37072
Boynton Cemetery42.83772-85.74334
Briggs Family Cemetery43.13953-85.55118
Brooklawn Cemetery43.02821-85.72983
Cannon Cemetery43.08507-85.44498
Cannonsburg Cemetery43.06474-85.47975
Cascade Cemetery42.90899-85.49108
Cedar Springs Cemetery43.21133-85.55328
Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens42.90891-85.54641
Chubbuck Cemetery43.27721-85.75222
Courtland Cemetery43.15284-85.49
Cross Cemetery43.07388-85.75694
Daniels Cemetery42.81114-85.44779
De Graw Cemetery43.20666-85.42833
Dutton Cemetery42.83671-85.58446
East Nelson Cemetery43.23558-85.45614
Englishville Cemetery43.10418-85.67954
Fairplains Cemetery43.00156-85.64222
Fairplains Cemetery43.15279-85.69892
Fallass Cemetery42.98445-85.31871
Findlay Cemetery43.00121-85.49178
Foxes Corners Cemetery42.95526-85.35297
Friant Cemetery43.06329-85.57009
Fulton Street Cemetery42.96391-85.64864
Garfield Park Cemetery42.92255-85.63104
Graceland Memorial Park and Mausoleum42.94746-85.56205
Grand Rapids Home For Veterans Cemetery43.01992-85.65799
Grandville Cemetery42.90446-85.75141
Grattan Cemetery43.08388-85.38305
Greenwood Cemetery42.98918-85.70558
Greenwood Cemetery43.16157-85.7155
Holy Corners Cemetery42.81221-85.52722
Holy Cross Cemetery42.99529-85.71531
Holy Trinity Cemetery43.05134-85.69866
Horton Cemetery43.1767-85.4113
Idlewild Cemetery43.2339-85.72615
Kent Memorial Gardens42.83558-85.68836
Krum Blanding Cemetery42.95808-85.40113
Lakeside Cemetery42.79277-85.5111
Lamoureux Cemetery43.02888-85.67055
Lisbon Cemetery43.14665-85.77957
Lithuanian Freedom Cemetery42.99561-85.69936
Little Cook Cemetery (historical)42.91-85.48056
Maple Grove Cemetery42.90558-85.61835
Marshall Cemetery43.08638-85.45138
Martin Cemetery42.94585-85.56085
Mason Cemetery43.00569-85.58521
Mason Cemetery43.06113-85.33224
McBride Cemetery42.89976-85.33599
Mennonite Cemetery42.82749-85.31777
Merriman Cemetery42.87058-85.38279
Mount Calvary Cemetery42.98474-85.70447
Myers Cemetery43.16113-85.68587
Oakfield Cemetery43.16957-85.38163
Oakgrove Cemetery42.91363-85.63141
Oakhill Cemetery42.94113-85.65169
Oakwood Cemetery42.945-85.33842
Oakwood Cemetery43.0638-85.57058
Pine Grove Cemetery43.07555-85.68221
Pine Hill Cemetery42.86752-85.63641
Plainfield Township Cemetery and Columbarium43.07669-85.59003
Punches Cemetery43.24669-85.5317
Rest Lawn Cemetery42.90096-85.6427
Resurrection Cemetery42.89057-85.68197
River Bend Cemetery42.93516-85.77507
Rockford Cemetery43.11472-85.5519
Rockford Pioneer Cemetery43.11777-85.55249
Rolfe Cemetery42.92725-85.4264
Saint Andrews Cemetery42.9463-85.6564

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for Kent County, Michigan

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.