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===Wyoming Township (1848β1959)=== On April 3, 1848, the {{convert|72|sqmi|sqkm}} township of Byron divided in half, with the name of Wyoming being used for the northern {{convert|36|sqmi|sqkm}} portion where the majority of the population was settled,<ref name="cc1881"/>{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=31}} with many settling near [[Buck Creek (Kent County, Michigan)|Buck Creek]].<ref name="CVDS2-4">{{cite book |last1=Vaughn |first1=Charles |last2=Simon |first2=Dorothy |title=The City of Wyoming: A History |date=1984 |publisher=Four Corners Press |location=Franklin, Michigan |pages=2β4}}</ref> At the time of division, about 500 people lived in Wyoming while fewer than 200 lived in Byron.<ref name="CVDS2-4"/> The name came from the [[Wyoming County, New York]], from which the majority of the residents came during the first 16 years.<ref name="CVDS2-4"/> During the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in [[Ireland]], Irish immigrants began to appear in Wyoming in 1849, with the Whalen family being among the first Irish families in the township.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=45}} Michael Avenue is named after Michael Whalen.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=45-46}} Dutch immigrants arrived in greater numbers and created [[agricultural cooperative]]s on smaller parcels of land, creating closed groups among themselves.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=45-46}} In 1850, the population of Wyoming Township was counted at 543 people.<ref name="Umich">{{cite book |title=Illustrated historical atlas of the county of Kent, Michigan. |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/3927864.0001.001/87?page=root;print=1;size=100;view=text;q1=Austerlitz;q2=Imperial+Mills;q3=Chauncey |website=quod.lib.umich.edu | date=February 20, 1876 |access-date=June 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-18.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820185750/http://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-18.pdf |archive-date=August 20, 2017 |url-status=live |title=1870 Census: Volume 1. The Statistics of the Population of the United States |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |year=1870 |pages=172 |language=en}}</ref> At the time, Dutch and Irish immigrants were [[scapegoated]] for the prevalence of "Michigan ague", or [[malaria]], which had begun affecting the area.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=45-46}} ==== Fisher's Station ==== [[File:Fisher's Station, Wyoming Township, 1876.png|thumb|225x225px|Fisher's Station, 1876]] David Fisher arrived in Wyoming in 1857 and acquired land from Gordon's estate, replacing Gordon's old Buck Creek mill, which had burned down, and built a replacement.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=40-41}} Fisher would then construct cabins along the west side of Burlingame Avenue which housed Fisher and the millers he employed.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=40-41}} Operations for Fisher would expand further south on Buck Creek where he would extract lime and peat, later building a second mill on a plot of land he purchased from William Ferry in the southeast portion of the township.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=40-41}} In 1869, a station on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was constructed, and in 1870, Fisher had a town platted called "Fisher's Station," which would develop around the railroad station.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=40-41}} A post office was constructed in 1871 and the area was platted in December 1873.<ref name="cc1881"/><ref>Walter Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 198</ref> The population of Wyoming Township grew to 2,008 in 1874 while the population of Fisher's Station was 65 in 1888.<ref name="cc1881"/> Fisher, along with his brother and business partner, James, would retire in Grand Rapids and lived as wealthy men for the rest of their lives.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=40-41}} During the township's early history, the then rural community would often produce agricultural goods and farmers would travel to Grand Rapids to sell their products.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=1}} ==== Suburban growth ==== [[Gypsum]] mines in northeast Wyoming along Plaster Creek operated for decades and became more refined in 1880 when the Alabastine Company acquired much of the gypsum, later opening the [[Alabastine Mine]] in 1907.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=79-80}} Wyoming Township began to grow as a suburb of Grand Rapids in 1890 with its next major area of development occurring in the northeast section of the township closest to Grand Rapids<ref name="CVDS22-333">{{cite book|last1=Vaughn|first1=Charles|title=The City of Wyoming: A History|last2=Simon|first2=Dorothy|date=1984|publisher=Four Corners Press|location=Franklin, Michigan|pages=22β33}}</ref>{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=79-80}} with much of the city's population moving southward in the early 1900s.<ref name="CVDS35" /> The City of Grand Rapids started annexing portions of the township and by 1891 had annexed one square mile ({{convert|1|mi2|km2|disp=output only}}) of the city from Division to Clyde Park and from Hall to Burton.<ref name="CVDS22-333"/> In 1902, the [[Grand Rapids, Holland and Chicago Railway]] promoted the creation of more plats in the Galewood, Urbandale, and Burlingame (GUB) neighborhoods, with the railway providing transportation to downtown Grand Rapids in fifteen minutes.<ref name="CVDS22-333"/> From 1890 to 1906, thirty-two [[plat]]s were in the GUB neighborhoods with communities bordering Grand Rapids developing into suburban areas where [[Dutch Americans]] predominately resided.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=1}}<ref name="CVDS22-333"/> In the GUB area, the [[Christian Reformed Church in North America|Christian Reformed Church]] expanded with its Dutch churchgoers.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=1}} Another section of Wyoming was annexed by Grand Rapids in 1916 that involved the half-mile from Burton to Alger and from Clyde Park to Division.<ref name="CVDS22-333"/> The growth of Wyoming saw the emergence of profitable businesses there, including the [[Leonard (appliances)|Leonard Refrigerator Company]], the Pierre Marquette railroad car repair shop and gypsum mines.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=1}} Gravel pits operated by Grand Rapids Gravel Company lined the western side of present-day Byron Center Avenue from [[M-11 (Michigan highway)|28th Street]] (then Beales Road) in the south to the north near Lamar Park β its nearby lakes being former pits β also provided jobs and gravel for roads in the expanding township.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=1}} With the United States entering [[World War I]], the federal government began construction of a [[picric acid]] factory on the west side of 44th Street and Clyde Park Avenue, employing thousands of people in the area and attracting others after rumors of an airplane factory on the site were spread, though construction would end following the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]].{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=2}} In the late 1910s and early 1920s in the GUB neighborhood, [[Hackett (automobile)|Hackett]] and later [[Lorraine (automobile)|Lorraine]] automobiles were manufactured at a factory on Beverly and Burlingame Avenues.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=95}} Into the 1920s, Wyoming saw its population nearly triple, experiencing its period of largest growth, with city officials accustomed to rural affairs being overwhelmed with new developments, taking on tasks and issues as they occurred.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=2}} Farmers in Wyoming began to sell their farms for development as prices for their produce declined, with farming families either assuming jobs in Grand Rapids or leaving the area.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=3}} Since Wyoming did not have adequate [[zoning]] regulations like neighboring Grand Rapids, [[land speculators]] began the [[plat]]ting of small, cheap residential properties, especially the neighborhoods of Godwin Heights, Home Acres, Wyoming Park and along Division Avenue, with plat proposals occurring during every town meeting at the time.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=3}}<ref name="CVDS22-333" /><ref name="CVDS1682">{{cite book |last1=Vaughn |first1=Charles |title=The City of Wyoming: A History |last2=Simon |first2=Dorothy |date=1984 |publisher=Four Corners Press |location=Franklin, Michigan |pages=168β173}}</ref> Materials from the cancelled picric acid plant were taken and used to construct some of these cheap houses, which had tarpaper roofs and lacked basements.{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=75}} The construction of these affordable home developments in Wyoming provided a cheap workforce for Grand Rapids.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=3}} Citizens already established in the Grand Rapids and Wyoming area deplored the new residents who moved to the Home Acres and Division corridor, referring to the area as "Shanty Town" and as a place of crime.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=3}} White Protestants in Wyoming also prevented African Americans from residing in the township, engaging in [[housing segregation]] and [[redlining]], with some sales agreements explicitly stating that a property "shall never be occupied by a negro," extending such agreements to second parties, heirs and others.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=6}} As a result of suburbanization the population of Wyoming had grown about 200% between 1920 and 1930, from 5,702 to 16,931 and the unorganized zoning of the township would cause issues for Wyoming throughout its future.<ref name="CVDS1682"/><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume-1/03815512v1ch06.pdf |title=1930 Census of the United States |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |year=1930 |pages=524 |language=en}}</ref> With Wyoming developing at such a rapid pace, the Grand Rapids city officials and affiliated business leaders attempted to deter the development of industry in Wyoming, fearing that Grand Rapids would lose skilled workers and wages would increase.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=4}}<ref name="CVDS1682" /> One major incident of Grand Rapids preventing industrial development in Wyoming occurred in the early 1920s when [[Ford Motor Company]] attempted to purchase the unfinished picric acid factory that was being constructed during World War I.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Kendall Furniture quickly purchased the property before Ford could acquire the site, later selling the property to repay [[back taxes]].{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=3-4}}<ref name="CVDS1682" /> ==== Great Depression and General Motors ==== As the [[Great Depression]] affected the world's economy in the 1930s, Grand Rapids saw little industrial development as there was no demand for luxury furniture, the city's main economic product.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=7}}<ref name="CVDS1682" /> During the economic depression, the cheap furniture laborers residing in Wyoming were laid off and at least twenty-five percent of citizens were unemployed.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=7}}<ref name="CVDS77">{{cite book|last1=Vaughn|first1=Charles|title=The City of Wyoming: A History|last2=Simon|first2=Dorothy|date=1984|publisher=Four Corners Press|location=Franklin, Michigan|pages=77β112}}</ref> Wyoming teachers took a 45% pay cut and children had to share textbooks in school.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=8}} A poor fund was established in 1931, though by September 1932, the $44,000 collected β the {{inflation|US|44000|1932|2021|fmt=eq}} β was insufficient for the project.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=10}} Small construction projects by the Township provided some funds for residents, though they were only temporary measures, with tax deadline extensions from the Township becoming common throughout the Great Depression as individuals could not afford to pay taxes.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=9}} By mid-1933, about 20% of Wyoming's workforce was unemployed.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=13}} During the depression, many residents of Wyoming grew disillusioned with the existing unchecked [[capitalism]], [[small government]] practices and the [[laissez-faire]] economic system that relied on local governments, churches, and charities to provide the care for citizens.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} When President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] introduced the [[New Deal]] and federal [[social welfare]] programs β including the [[Civil Works Administration]], [[Public Works Administration]], and [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration]] to the United States, city residents strongly approved of these actions by his government.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} It was reported that men in Wyoming were grateful and wept when they were told that they would have a job for the first time in years as a result of Roosevelt's welfare programs.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} Roosevelt's program helped Wyoming pay workers to construct new bridges, parks, roads, schools, and sewers; with Ideal Park, Johnson Park, and the first township office being constructed with federal funding.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11-13}} [[File:New General Motors Building, Grand Rapids, Michigan (64096).jpg|thumb|[[General Motors]] Stamping Division Plant, opened in 1936]] Former [[Mayor of Grand Rapids]] George P. Tilma was elected supervisor of Wyoming Township in 1932 and was tasked with modernizing the developing suburban community from a rural town system.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=15}} In 1933, Grandville was separated from Wyoming and was established as its own city.<ref>{{cite web |last=City of Grandville |date=2021 |title=Grandville: Community Profile |url=https://www.cityofgrandville.com/our_community/community_profile.php |accessdate=October 3, 2021}}</ref> In the winter of 1933, Tilma was also able to circumvent the [[Emergency Banking Act]] in a technicality to purchase 555 tons of coal that was distributed to the poor to heat their homes.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=15}} [[General Motors]] sought to construct a new facility in Grand Rapids, though there were no areas for development or future expansions, so the cities of Grand Rapids and Wyoming collaborated to have General Motors purchase land in Wyoming while Grand Rapids supplied utilities to the site.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Tilma's expertise was instrumental in both secretly negotiating with Grand Rapids on utility work and with obtaining approval of the site by General Motors.<ref name="CVDS77" /> The General Motors plant began construction on January 22, 1936, and Roosevelt's New Deal funding helped construct the sewer and water system for the factory.<ref name="CVDS1682" />{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=12}} The first enrollment date for employees on April 6, 1936, saw a line of workers spanning nearly {{Convert|1.5|mi|km|abbr=}} from the factory's entrance west of Buchanan Avenue and 36th Street, east to Division Avenue and then north {{Convert|1|mi|km|abbr=}} to 28th Street, with the first metal stamps being shipped from the factory on June 1, 1936.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Following the construction of the General Motors stamping plant, development on Division Avenue increased extensively, with a new [[Kelloggsville High School]] being opened in September 1936 and a new [[Godwin Heights Public Schools|Godwin Heights High School]] being approved in January 1937.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Supervisor Tilma died suddenly in his office in April 1937 with his death being attributed to an [[intracerebral hemorrhage]].<ref name="CVDS77" /> As World War II began, [[Reynolds Metals]] opened a plant in the township that was initially to develop airplane material in 1942.<ref name="CVDS22-333" /> ==== Post-war growth, push towards cityhood ==== Following [[World War II]], Wyoming developed so rapidly that [[mobile home]]s began to appear on vacant properties throughout the city, with an ordinance being passed in 1947 to prevent this.<ref name="CVDS77" /> In 1946, General Motors Diesel Equipment Division, which was later known as [[Delphi Automotive]] and today known as [[GM Components Holdings]], began operations in an area of {{Convert|45|acres|sqm|abbr=}} that was former swampland which was drained for a [[Muck farming|muck farm]].{{sfn|Simon-Tibbe|Branz|White|2009|pp=87}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Kolker |first=Ken |date=April 10, 2005 |title=Neighbors sue over seeping carcinogen |pages=A1 |work=[[Grand Rapids Press]]}}</ref> As Wyoming moved towards cityhood, the Township purchased {{Convert|5|acres|sqm|abbr=}} of land from Judy Devine in December 1947 on the northeast corner of 28th Street and DeHoop Avenue, establishing the area known as the town center of Wyoming due to the increased development on 28th Street.<ref name="CVDS77" /><ref name="CVDS22-333"/> A year later in 1948, Lake Alexander was drained and converted into what is now Jackson Park.<ref name="CVDS35">{{cite book|last1=Vaughn|first1=Charles|title=The City of Wyoming: A History|last2=Simon|first2=Dorothy|date=1984|publisher=Four Corners Press|location=Franklin, Michigan|pages=35β76}}</ref> In May 1948, a committee was created by the Township which recommended incorporating Wyoming into a city.<ref name="CVDS77" /> As Wyoming pursued incorporation, Grand Rapids increased annexation attempts, with the annexation of GUB being defeated in April 1949.<ref name="CVDS77" /> The 1950s was the decade of Wyoming's fastest development, with homes developing so quickly that the Township experienced difficulties providing proper utilities to homes.<ref name="CVDS77" /> Multiple wells were drilled throughout the area to provide water to the developing community after the water supply from Grand Rapids was discontinued, temporarily sparking political controversy surrounding water supplies.<ref name="CVDS77" /> The Township board approved a route for [[U.S. Route 131]] through Wyoming in July 1952 and 28th Street was widened from two to four lanes shortly after.<ref name="CVDS77" /> In August 1956, a vote for incorporation into a city was narrowly defeated and the Ivanrest area was annexed by Grandville.<ref name="CVDS77" /> Rogers Department Store, one of the largest department stores in Michigan at the time, opened on 28th Street in 1955.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Rogers Department Store|url=https://now.wktv.org/tag/rogers-department-store/|access-date=July 11, 2020|website=WKTV|date=June 20, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> On November 6, 1958, voters approved the incorporation of Wyoming into a city.<ref name="CVDS77" />
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