Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1851-07-02

81 1utcHtguH, HOfW " He Cttefus hutTouu.
Messrs. BARNS & ANGEL,-Your praisewor-
thy enterprise manifested in the appearance of
the Times" as the exponent of the affairs and
progress of the Grand River valley, is hailed
with the best wishes for your success, by all
who feel an interest in the prosperity of this
ultima thule of the Peninsular State. 1t is the
peculiar province of the newspaper press, to
send abroad knowledge Of the place from
which it emenates, and from the facts and sta
tistics it publishes, correct idea is gained by
strangers Of its Importance, as constituent
part of the body polite. This is done in va
rious ways by means of the journals of the
present day-but not so fully as is desirable by
those who expect that such journals will be as
it were map of the country or village it rep
resents. In most of the country papers, all the
information given of the place, is to be CLEANED
from the advertisements and the Business Di-
rectory," without which it might as well be is
sued from the moon, as from any sublunary
spot so far as any idea can be formed of the To-
cality it halls from. Thus promising what
have to say of Grand Haven, hasten to intro
duce our village and its environs to your read
ers far and near, to many Of whom such an out
of the way place perchance, "w was never dream
ed of in their philosophy"
Grand Haven-the county seat of Ottawa
County Mich, 2l3 miles West by North from
Detroit, is situated on the South bank Of Grand
River, half mile from its entrance into Lake
Michigan between which and the Lake are sand
hills 200 feet in height. Its harbor, 0he best
on this side of the Lake. } could be made by the
construction of piers superior to any on the
upper Lakes, and with such an Improvement by
the general government, would open to the in
terror of the State by rail and plank roads to
the Rapids, q channel for the outlet of vast
amount of produce, the staples Of a soil abound
ing in agricultural and mineral wealth, and the
inlet of the products Of the world abroad
At the present writing there is from ten to thir-
ty feet depth of water in the channel, which is
indicated by lights and guides established at
the mouth of the river For the benefit of tram
sient vessels drawing more than eight feet, it
may be well to state here that the inner and
outer bars extend from the north and south
past the line of the ranges, preventing 4 straight
passage out-but the buoy north Of the outside
bar is placed little north of the range lights,
in thirteen feet water by keeping in range over
the outside bar there is feet, and inside of it
there is not less than ten feet in range.
Grand Haven contains a eco art Hss.se which
is used also as church, Il Jail, School House
with spacious rooms above and below, with
cupola and bell, beautiful edifce which cost
nearly two thousand dollars, and accommodates
over one hundred scholars pursuing the vari-
GUS branches of education, under accomplished
teachers open to all classes of youth, including
the penniless as well as the rich. There are
three large public houses, well sustained, one
of which, the Washington, is three stories high
with Hall in the attic, occupied by the Odd
Fellows. There are five stores, three forward
ing houses, two shops, several groceries, large
tannery, tailor shop, blacksmith and carpenter
shops and several fisheries.
The principal business of the place is the
manufacture and shipment of lumber. The
number of steam and water mills for that pur-
pose within the range of navigation here, and in
this part of the county is fourteen, five onlysof
which are water mills, the remainder mostly
double steam mills, which make an average of
10000 feet in "a hours. The quantities of
lumber shipped from this port this season will
amount to nearly or quite 30,o00,o00 feet be-
sides proportionate amount of shingles, shin
gle-bolts, ath, wood, cedar posts, bark &C., &c.
Heavy shipments of wheat, flour and plaster,
have been made this season, and large amount
of merchandise received for this place and the
various points in Ottawa, Kent and Ionia. On
the river two steamers ply between this place
and Grand Rapids, and one connects above to
Ionia-making about eighty miles inland navi-
CATION towards Lansing the Capital Of the State,
from which plank road is nearly completed to
Detroit and is to be extended west TO Iona and
Grand Rapids. Stock is now being taken at
Kalamazoo for plank road to Grand Rapids,
which improvements will facilitate travel from
the East to Milwaukee, by way of Grand IIa-
ven. Propelors from Buffalo touch here semi
monthly en- route for Chicago, anda fleet of about
twenty sail take nearly million feet of lumber