Basement Waterproofing | Muskegon, MI | 49440-49441-49442

The human occupation of the Muskegon area goes back seven or eight thousand years to the nomadic Paleo-Indian hunters who occupied this area following the retreat of the Wisconsonian glaciations. The Paleo-Indians were succeeded by several stages of woodland Indian development, the most notable of whom were the Hopewellian type cultures that occupied this area perhaps two thousand years ago. During historic times, the Muskegon area was inhabited by various bands of the Ottawa and Pottawatomi tribes. Perhaps the best remembered of the Indian inhabitants of this area was Ottawa Indian Chief, Pendalouan. A leading participant in the French inspired annihilation of the Fox Indians of Illinois in the 1730’s, he and his people lived in the vicinity of Muskegon during the 1730’s and 1740’s until induced by the French to move their settlement to the Traverse Bay area in 1742. The name “Muskegon” is derived from the Ottawa Indian term ‘Masquigon’ meaning “marshy river or swamp.” The “Masquigon” river is identified on French maps dating from the late seventeenth century, suggesting French explorers had reached the western coast of Michigan by that time. No one knows for certain when the first Frenchman visited the Muskegon area, but Father Jacques Marquette traveled northward through this area on his fateful trip to St. Ignace in 1675 and a party of French soldiers under La Salle’s lieutenant, Henry de Tonty, passed through this area in 1679.

If the French established any trading posts in this vicinity, their locations are not known. The earliest known resident of the county was Edward Fitzgerald, a fur trader and trapper who visited the Muskegon area in 1748 and who died here, reportedly being buried in the vicinity of White Lake. Sometime between 1790 and 1800, a French-Canadian trader named Joseph La Framboise established a trading post at the mouth of Duck Lake. Between 1810 and 1820, several French Canadian fur traders, including Lamar Andie, Jean Baptiste Recollect, and Pierre Constant had established posts around Muskegon Lake. Settlement of Muskegon began in earnest in 1837 when Muskegon Township was organized as a subdivision of Ottawa County. One of the earliest settlers, Henry Pennoyer, was elected as the first township supervisor in 1838.  The typical lumberman of that era was a young man in his twenties or thirties from New England, New York, or Pennsylvania who had enjoyed sufficient success in some previous occupation to build a small mill and to make a modest investment in Michigan timber lands. Local lumbermen such as Charles Mears, Martin Ryerson, Lyman Mason, Charles Hill, and George and John Ruddiman readily fit this stereotype. By the time the local lumber industry had reached its peak in the mid 1880’s, forty-seven sawmills surrounded Muskegon Lake, while another sixteen dotted the shores of White Lake to the north. Muskegon was then known as the “Lumber Queen of the Mid-West.”

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the lumbering era was fading away. The local economy was severely depressed, the community disorganized, and the population restive and demoralized. Led by area industrialists, including Newcomb Mc Graft, Charles Hackley, and Thomas Hume, the community organized a program of economic development, which attracted several substantial businesses to the community. Before long, Muskegon was well on its way to becoming a diversified industrial center, having attracted such firms as Shaw-Walker, Brunswick, Campbell, Continental Motors, and the Central Paper Mill to this area. The Great Depression of the 1930’s undermined much of that economic developments, but the economy rebounded during World War II in response to Muskegon’s role as an “Arsenal of Democracy.” The 1950’s and 1960s witnessed a return to the economic doldrums. Factories cut back on production and laid off employees in unprecedented numbers. Many area businesses closed their doors permanently. The 1960’s and 1970’s were years of business consolidation when numerous locally owned banks and industrial establishments were sold to giant national and international corporations. Since the 1970’s the industrial community has continued to diversify in order to cope with an ever-changing and troublesome economy.