Place:Rockford, Kent, Michigan, United States

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NameRockford
TypeCity
Coordinates43.117°N 85.55°W
Located inKent, Michigan, United States
Contained Places
Cemetery
Blythefield Memory Gardens
Bostwick Lake Cemetery
Courtland Township Cemetery
Rockford Cemetery
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Rockford is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,719 at the 2010 census.

Located along the Rogue River, the city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is about north of the city of Grand Rapids.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

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. The community was platted in 1865 and incorporated as a village in 1866. At that time, the community's name changed to Rockford. The community was originally based around the lumber industry but was soon supported by a shoe factory and tannery at the turn of the century. The village incorporated as a city in 1935.

Wolverine World Wide has major operations in the city for over 100 years. In modern times, its former tannery site used Scotchgard chemicals to waterproof shoes, which contaminated local areas with the active ingredients at the time of PFOA and PFOS.

The downtown area hosts a summer farmer's market on Saturday. The city also hosts a Fall Harvest Festival. Start of Summer Celebration is a community organization annually held in early June at the beginning of summertime.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Rockford, Michigan. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.



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1961 Commencement Program
Rockford Sr High School Class of 1961
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