Holland is a city located in the western Lower Peninsula of the
U.S. state of Michigan. It is located on the shore of Lake
Macatawa on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and is fed by the
Macatawa River (locally known as the Black River). The city is
also home to the annual Tulip Time Festival, which attracts many
tourists attracted by its Dutch heritage and the beauty of its
tulip fields.
Straddling the county line between Ottawa
and Allegan, with 9.08 square miles (23.52 km2) in Ottawa and
the remaining 8.13 square miles (21.06 km2) in Allegan, the
population as of the 2010 census was 33,051 and the urbanized
area population as of 2015 was 113,164.
Originally, the region of today's Ottawa County was settled by Ottawa
Indians. In 1846, Reverend Alex Tomasik founded the Old Wing Mission for
the native population. In 1847 the first European settlers settled in
the region (Calvinist separatists from the Netherlands).
The wave
of emigration to this region was essentially initiated by a polemic by
the Dutch preacher Albertus Christian van Raalte. In this document dated
May 25, 1846, he called for the separation of church and state and
called for emigration. Together with the first emigrants, van Raalte
founded the Dutch colony of Black Lake in the US state of Michigan in
1847, from which the city of Holland emerged. Many Dutch and people from
the county of Bentheim followed van Raalte to Michigan. The first
Grafschafter settled around 5 km south of Holland and founded the towns
of Graafschap and Bentheim.
Methodist youth pastor Jamie
Tinklenberg of the Wesleyan Church of Holland, serving in the city in
1989, encountered writer Charles Sheldon's question, "What would Jesus
do?" . They produced pins and also released a bracelet with the phrase.
These bracelets quickly spread among young American evangelical
Christians.
In 1997 Holland celebrated the 150th anniversary of
the arrival of the first settlers. The inscription "God zy met ons" in
the city seal and the city coat of arms with the windmill "DeZwaan" are
reminiscent of the Dutch ancestors.
The Tulip Time Festival in May and a variety of Dutch-themed
attractions attract thousands of visitors each year to the nearby Lake
Michigan shoreline. More than 28% of the population is of Dutch descent.
The Holland Museum has exhibits on the city's history. Also, the
Cappon House Museum, built in 1874, is a historical museum where Dutch
immigrant Isaac Cappon served as the first mayor of Holland. The
Settler's House Museum, a building that survived a major fire, displays
19th century furnishings and artifacts.
Downtown Holland is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The "Snowmelt
Project" installed pipes that carry hot water from a nearby power plant
to the downtown basement for the purpose of clearing snow from downtown
streets and sidewalks.
De Zwaan is a 250-year-old Dutch windmill
located on Windmill Island in Municipal Park. It is 125 feet (38 meters)
tall and has sails of 40 feet (12 meters).
In the Netherlands,
Latin Americans United for Progress holds an annual fiesta on a Saturday
near May 5 (Cinco de Mayo). The Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival
is also held annually to celebrate Latin America's contribution to
culture.
Holland is known as the "City of Churches. There are approximately 140 churches in the greater Holland area, many of which belong to the denominations of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and it is home to the church that popularized the "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelet in 1989.
Every May, the Netherlands hosts the Tulip Time Festival. The
planting and festival began in 1930, when 250,000 tulips were planted
for the event. Today, 6 million tulips are planted throughout the city.
Tulips are planted along many city streets, in city parks, outside City
Hall, as well as at tourist attractions such as Dutch Village, the
city-owned Windmill Island Garden, and a large tulip farm called
Feldheer Tulip Gardens. The festival is usually held during the second
week of May, the tulip blooming season. Cruise ships such as Yorktown, a
Great Lakes cruising company, call at the Netherlands.
Approximately one million tourists visit Tulip Thyme each year, and the
community finds innovative ways to enhance its self-funded projects in
order to do so. The Tulip Time Festival has featured some of the biggest
names in recent years, including: Christina Aguilera in 2000, O-Town in
2001, Verve Pipe in 2004, and Jars of Clay in 2006. 2007 saw Ed McMahon
visited Tulip Time with Bobby Vinton; comedian Bill Cosby headlined the
2014 Tulip Time Festival.
Holland is located on the shores of
Lake Macatawa on Lake Michigan. Many public beaches are scattered along
the lake shoreline, including Tunnel Park and the popular Holland State
Park. Across the shore from the state park is Holland Harbor Light,
known as the "Big Red. There are smaller beaches along Lake Michigan,
but they are not well marked. There are many public access facilities
along the dead-end streets bordering the shoreline.
The city's
main shopping district is along 8th Avenue, the main street downtown.
The 8th Avenue business district has a snow-melting system that uses
cooling water from a local power plant; in 1988, the City reconstructed
the entire street and sidewalk system and installed thermal conduction
pipes beneath it. The system can melt up to an inch of snow per hour
(about 15 degrees Celsius).
Holland has a major college, Hope College, which was founded in 1866
by the Reformed Church in America. Today courses are offered in the
arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. The college has
around 3,200 students.
The church founder and televangelist
Robert Schuller studied theology here from 1943 to 1947, as did his son
Robert Anthony Schuller in the 1970s.
Several larger companies have branches or subsidiaries based in
Holland:
Johnson Controls (JCI) has a facility in Holland that
manufactures vehicle seats and interiors. With 3,000 jobs, JCI is one of
the largest employers in the city.
The Kraft Heinz Company has been
operating the world's largest cucumber factory in Holland since 1897.
Furniture manufacturer Haworth, Inc. has its world headquarters in
Holland.
The American automotive supplier Adient has a branch in
Holland.
The machine manufacturer BuhlerPrince, Inc., a Bühler Group
company, has a branch in Holland.
The US subsidiary of the machinery
manufacturer for the agricultural industry Big Dutchman is headquartered
in Holland.
The Paderborn-based automotive supplier Benteler has a
Benteler Aluminum Systems plant in Holland.
In Holland, the Tulip Festival has been held in May every year since
1929 ("Tulip Time Festival"). At that time, 250,000 tulips were planted.
Today 6 million tulips grow in Holland. The flower beds are located
along streets, in city parks and in front of public buildings throughout
the city, as well as at tourist attractions such as the Dutch Village,
Windmill Island Gardens and Veldheer Tulips Gardens.
Other
tourist attractions are:
Holland State Park with the red lighthouse
the wooden shoe and porcelain factory (DeKlomp Wooden Shoe & Delft
Factory)
Gerrit J. Diekema (1859–1930), politician
Charles J. Symmonds
(1866–1941), United States Army brigadier general
William C.
Vandenberg (1884–1971), Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
Laurel Massé
(born 1951), jazz and cabaret singer
Betsy DeVos (born 1958),
politician, entrepreneur, education activist and philanthropist
James
Michael (born 1967), record producer and musician
Lisa McMann (born
1968), author
Erik Prince (born 1969), entrepreneur
Luke Witkowski
(born 1990), ice hockey player
Kennedy McMann (born 1996), actress