Editing Greenville, Michigan (section)

==History==
Greenville is named after its founder, John Green, who settled in the wilderness of the southwest part of Montcalm County in 1844. Green constructed a sawmill on the [[Flat River (Michigan)|Flat River]] that is credited for attracting other settlers. The newly formed "Green's Village" attracted many people of [[Denmark|Danish]] origin who followed another early Danish settler's positive letters home regarding the area. Because of the town's heritage, Greenville celebrates the Danish Festival every year on the third weekend of August. A post office was established on January 20, 1848, with Abel French as the first postmaster. John Green had the village [[plat]]ted in 1853, and it was a station on the [[Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad]]. Greenville incorporated as a village in 1867 and as a city in 1871.<ref name="Romig">{{cite book |last=Romig |first=Walter |year=1986 |title=Michigan Place Names |orig-year=1973 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |location=Detroit, Michigan |isbn=0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>

Hendrik Meijer, founder of [[Meijer]]'s stores, moved to Greenville after immigrating to the United States from the [[Netherlands]]. He was initially a barber, but the [[Great Depression]] and lack of a proper grocery on his side of town led him to open his own store in 1934. Meijer corporation now operates stores throughout the Midwest. Hendrik's son [[Fred Meijer (businessman)|Fred Meijer]], principal architect of the modern Meijer chain, is a native son.

Greenville is home to the Fighting Falcon,<ref name="thefightingfalcon.org">{{cite web |title=The Fighting Falcon Museum |url=http://www.thefightingfalcon.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120031337/http://www.thefightingfalcon.org/ |archive-date=January 20, 2008}}</ref> the lead plane of a wave of [[glider (aircraft)|gliders]] during World War II's [[Operation Overlord]]. The ''Falcon'' was purchased with funds raised by the schoolchildren of the city, and was designated the lead aircraft in recognition of this achievement.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for this claim|date=April 2014}}

Since the foundation of Ranney Refrigerator Co. in 1892, the town has been known as the "Refrigerator Capital of the World". It has also been home to the [[Gibson Appliance|Gibson]], White Consolidated, [[Frigidaire]], and until recently, the [[Electrolux]] refrigerator factory. Electrolux closed the Greenville facility in early 2006, as it was in the process of relocating the factory to [[Ciudad Juárez]] in Mexico. This move impacted 2,700 employees and their families.

The city was to become the epicenter of "green" technology with the addition of solar panel manufacturer United Solar Ovonic; however, that enterprise filed for bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Gentilviso |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/fred-upton-united-solar-ovonic-energy-loans_n_1279986.html |title=Fred Upton-Backed United Solar Ovonic Files For Bankruptcy |work=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2012-02-15 |access-date=2015-06-05}}</ref> It is also home to the new manufacturing and design center of Northland Marvel, an undercounter refrigeration company that just became a part of the UK-based AgaRangemaster group.

Lafayette Street, the downtown district, was placed on the National and State Register of Historic Places in November 2008.