Editing Zeeland, Michigan (section)

==History==
In 1847, nearly 500 Dutch citizens sailed for America ostensibly to achieve [[freedom of religion|religious freedom]], although their decision to immigrate was probably also influenced by other factors, such as dire economic conditions in their home province of [[Zeeland]], [[Netherlands]]<ref name="swierenga1">{{cite web| url=http://www.swierenga.com/Museum_lec.html| title=By the Sweat of our Brow: Economic Aspects of the Dutch Immigration to Michigan| author=Robert P. Swierenga| publisher=swierenga.com| date=13 March 1997 |work=Lecture of Dr. Robert P. Swierenga, Research Professor, A.C. Van Raalte Institute for Historical Studies, Hope College, Holland Museum Sesquicentennial Lecture Series, Holland| access-date=2014-01-07}}</ref> and their opposition to modern scientific and social advances of the time.

The emigrants were led by James Van de Luyster, a wealthy landowner who sold his holdings in the Netherlands to advance money for the members to pay their debts and buy passage to America.<ref name="swierenga2">{{cite web| url=http://www.swierenga.com/Zeeland_lec.html| title=From Zeeland to Zeeland in 1847| author=Robert P. Swierenga| publisher=swierenga.com| date=6 February 1997 |work=presented to the Zeeland Historical Society| access-date=2012-12-17}}</ref>  Their settlement, some {{convert|16,000|acre|km2}} of land once occupied by the [[Odawa people]], was named after their home province of [[Zeeland]].

Van de Luyster arranged for three ships to sail for the United States. He came on the first ship, arriving on June 27, 1847. He was followed by the Steketee group on July 4, and Reverend Van Der Meulen's group on August 1 of that year. The total number of settlers was 457.
[[Image:Hollandmichigan.PNG|thumb|250px|Dutch settlements in Michigan.]]
The first building was a church. The town of Zeeland was [[plat]]ted in 1849, and the school district was organized the following year.

Within twenty-five years, Zeeland had acquired a sawmill, a wagon factory, blacksmith shops, grocery stores, and a post office.

The village officially became a city in 1907. There was a two-story brick kindergarten building, a two-story brick grade school, and a brick house building. The city also had four furniture factories, one large manufacturing plant, and several mills and smaller manufacturing industries.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://macatawa.org/~devries/| title= History of Zeeland| access-date= 2007-01-15| year= 2003| work= Macatawa Bay Area History & Heritage| publisher = Luann Hughes DeVries}}</ref>