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Kent County, Michigan

Street maps, historic prints and keepsakes for 11 Kent County towns.

The oldest is Grand Rapids, established 1838. The largest by population is Grand Rapids (198,917).

Town	Established	Population
Caledonia	1888	1,622
Cedar Springs	1871	3,627
East Grand Rapids	1891	11,371
Grand Rapids	1838	198,917
Grandville	1933	16,083
Kent City	1908	1,262
Kentwood	1967	54,304
Lowell	–	4,142
Rockford	1866	6,142
Sand Lake	–	522
Sparta	1883	4,244

About these towns

Caledonia: The village is located within Caledonia Township about 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of downtown Grand Rapids.

Cedar Springs: The area was first settled by Robin Hicks as early as 1855, and the first post office was established on February 4, 1857, with Nicholas Hill serving as the first postmaster.

East Grand Rapids: Originally part of Paris Township, East Grand Rapids was first settled in the early 1830s by the Reed Family from New York City, New York.

Grand Rapids: In 1806, white trader Joseph La Framboise and his Métis wife, Madeline La Framboise, traveled by canoe from Mackinac Island and established the first trading post in West Michigan in present-day Grand Rapids on the banks of the Grand River, near what is now Ada Township, the junction of the Grand and Thornapple Rivers.

Grandville: Anishinaabe peoples are indigenous to the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Grandville was geographically an important place during the logging years in Michigan's history due to its location at the "river-bend" of the Grand River.

Kent City: The village is located within Tyrone Township.

Kentwood: The city was incorporated in 1967 from what remained of Paris Township to prevent further annexation of land from the adjacent cities of Grand Rapids and Wyoming.

Lowell: The earliest modern residents of the Flat River and Grand River were the Grand River Odawa, who established several villages along the Grand River.

Rockford: The area was first settled by Marlin Hunter, who settled along the Rogue River in 1842. By 1845, several other families arrived and settled the community under the name Laphamville, and the community received a post office under that name.

Sand Lake: The village of Sand Lake was founded in 1869 in northern Kent County and has long served as a bedroom community about 25 miles (40.2 km) northeast of the city of Grand Rapids.

Sparta: The Sparta area was first settled in 1844, with the township formally organized in 1846. The first settler in what is now the village was Jonathan Nash in 1846.