The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Big Rapids was settled in 1855 by brothers George and Zera French. As the village of Leonard, at the intersection of Elm and Stewart streets, it became the seat of Mecosta County on February 11, 1859, but local lumbermen knew the site as Big Rapids. On September 29, 1859, the Leonard post office was renamed Big Rapids. Big Rapids was platted on November 3, 1859, surrounding the courthouse site of Leonard. The unincorporated community of Big Rapids was first cited on June 10, 1861, rather than Leonard, when the Mecosta County board of supervisors mentioned their seat of government, and in 1865 was consistently cited throughout the year. Big Rapids was incorporated as a city in 1869.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Big Rapids’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Rapids’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Big Rapids, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.
Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.