Charles Garfield discovered a fascinating story, about the existence of a lone black walnut tree, from an aged Ottawa Indian.

Daring young men, eager to emulate the birds, experimented with gliders and heavier-than-air planes as they attempted to escape earth's gravity.

Ambassador Thomas J. O"Brien servered in Denmark, Japan, and Rome where the position of the United States required he find a proper residence.

James Bentham's restaurant was an important place in town in the 1800s. Charles Belknap claimed it was as important as Daniel Ball's bank.

An automatic weather station, provided by the United States Weather Bureau, was installed in Monument Park in 1913.

The grade bench established a starting point, or base, from which surveys and levels were calculated in city engineering.

Music was a centerpiece in the life of Maria Royce as composer, a force in the St. Cecilia Music Society, and her involvement with deaf children and Camp Fire Girls.

Doctors Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering developed the first effective vaccine against whooping cough. By 1940 Michigan was distributing the vaccine, which would put an end to the deaths.

Over the years many war memorials have been proposed and erected in Grand Rapids. The first was the Civil War Monument, which was erected in 1885 and stands in Monument Park at the corner of Monroe Center and Division Ave.

The clock in the tower of the old City Hall was one of the few things saved when the building was demolished. Today the beautifully restored clock keeps time and chimes the hour at its home in the Grand Rapids Public Museum.