166 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (MUSKEGON.) 



largest oatmeal mill in the West, which con- 

 sumes 1,500,000 bushels of oats yearly, a box 

 factory, a large boiler and canning factory sup- 

 ply establishment, another factory of plumbers' 

 supplies, a woven-wire picket fence factory, pav- 

 ing-brick and tile works, 2 pearl-button facto- 

 ries, novelty works, 1 factory of automatic 

 clothes dryers and 1 of collars, 5 flour and 

 feed mills, 2 potteries and a clay-pipe factory, 2 

 iron foundries, and 3 machine shops, 5 wagon, 

 3 carriage, and 5 harness factories, as well as 

 1 of wagon brakes, 1 spice mill and baking- 

 powder works, a nickel-plating establishment, 3 

 barrel, 10 cigar, 3 candy, 1 pump, and 1 

 broom factory, 4 marble works, 2 pork-packing 

 houses, and a flexible harrow factory. Large 

 quantities of lumber and oatmeal are exported. 

 The city is an important jobbing point. In 

 1892 negotiations were completed for the loca- 

 tion at Muscatine of iron and steel rolling mills, 

 a carriage manufactory, road-grader, scraper, 

 and plow works, and a large pickling and pre- 

 serving factory. 



Muskegon, a city of Michigan, the county 

 seat of Muskegon County, on the south bank of 

 Muskegon river, one of the longest and most 

 important rivers in the State, five miles above 

 its mouth. It is the fifth city in size in the 

 State, the third on Lake Michigan, and has the 

 finest harbor on the eastern shore of the lake. 

 By water it is about 120 miles from Chicago and 

 85 from Milwaukee. The river here opens out 

 from 1 to 2 miles in width, forming Lake Muske- 

 gon, and affords 12 miles of water front ; the har- 

 bor is being landlocked and is open all the year. 

 The population increased from 11,262 in 1880 to 

 22,702 in 1890. In 1870 it received its city char- 

 ter, with a population of 6,002, having been in- 

 corporated as a village in 1861. Railroad facil- 

 ities are afforded by the Chicago and West 

 Michigan Railroad, the Grand Rapids and Indi- 

 ana, and the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon. 

 The first has shops here valued at $200,000, and 

 employs 250 men. In addition to three steam 

 transportation companies carrying on the ma- 

 rine business of the city, there is a tug company 

 and a steam ferry connecting with North Mus- 

 kegon. The total number of vessels entering 

 and clearing the port during 1891 was 2,887, 

 with a capacity of 706,837 tons. In 1890 the 

 aggregate shipments by water were 355,515,000 

 feet of lumber, 90,808,000 shingles, and 22,670,- 

 000 laths, in addition to slabs, sawdust, excelsior, 

 and general merchandise. In 1891 the ship- 

 ments of lumber amounted to 224,986,000 feet, 

 with 9,460,000 shingles and 13,770,000 laths. A 

 railroad, five miles long, extends from the Life- 

 Saving Station to the Hackley Assembly Grounds, 

 similar in character and purpose to the Chau- 

 tauqua. An electric street railroad operates 11 

 miles of track, and cost $50,000. This street 

 railroad company owns the handsome park of 58 

 acres between Muskegon lake and Lake Michi- 

 gan on the west side of the city. Muskegon has 

 an altitude of 593 feet above sea level. Its cor- 

 porate limits cover 12 square miles, of which 5 

 are water. The streets are well paved, and two 

 large main sewers have been constructed recently. 

 Prior to 1891 water was supplied by a series of 

 drive wells operated on the Vergennes system ; 

 the new plant, costing $250,000, is equipped with 



duplicate Holly vertical pumps, each having a 

 lifting capacity of 4,000,000 gallons daily, the 

 intake pipe having been extended 4,000 feet into 

 Lake Michigan, where the crib and strainer are 

 submerged 40 feet below the surface. There are 

 35 miles of mains and 450 fire plugs. The fire de- 

 partment possesses five stations and an electric 

 alarm system. The post-office is second class, 

 and the receipts for the year ending April 1, 

 1892, were $24,623.48, an increase of about 9 per 

 cent, over the preceding year. Four national 

 banks have a capital of $100,000 each, and there 

 is a savings bank capitalized at $50,000. The 

 total enrollment in the public schools for the 

 year ending June, 1892, was 5,287, an increase of 

 236 over the preceding year. Public-school 

 property is valued at $600,000, and, in addition 

 to 6 cottages for kindergartens, there are 17 

 school buildings, a central building costing 

 $80,000, and a high school under construction 

 to cost $50,000. There are also 3 Roman 

 Catholic parochial schools, and 2 others be- 

 longing to the German Evangelical and the Hol- 

 land Christian Reformed Churches. A business 

 college is in a flourishing condit ion. The church 

 edifices number 24, and several denominations 

 have Scandinavian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, 

 and German congregations. The Young Mens' 

 Christian Association has a membership of 200. 

 The Hackley Public Library, which cost $104.000 

 and owns about 20,000 volumes, was a gift to the 

 city from the citizen whose name it bears, who also 

 presented to Muskegon the Soldiers' Monument, 

 the largest public-school building, a park, and a 

 public fountain. The City Hall and the opera 

 house each cost $25,000. A large " Wigwam," 

 erected for political assemblages, at a cost of 

 $5,000, seats 2,500 to 3,000 persons. The city is 

 lighted by gas and electricity. Since 1890 12 large 

 factories have located at Muskegon. Among these 

 is an iron and steel company employing 225 men 

 and disbursing $10,000 per month in wages, 

 with a yearly output of 18,000 tons of high-grade 

 iron and steel exclusively by the open-hearth 

 process, the heating of which is done entirely by 

 fuel gas manufactured on the premises. The 

 plant covers 19 acres of land, with 800 feet of 

 front on the harbor ; its paid capital is $200,000. 

 There are 3 additional iron works, 1 boiler works, 

 and 2 saw factories ; a flour mill with a capacity 

 of 250 barrels daily, and about 20 saw and plan- 

 ing mills ; a piano factory, a chemical fire-engine 

 company capitalized at $240,000, turning out 

 hose carts, hook-and-ladder outfits, and other 

 fire department apparatus ; a furniture company, 

 which employs 175 men, and turns out a yearly 

 product of $200,000 in bedroom suites ; a fac- 

 tory of patent earth closets, another of spring 

 curtain rollers, dressed pickets, and other spe- 

 cialties, which employs 200 to 300 persons, and 

 has an annual output of $250,000, the plant cov- 

 ering 18 acres, with 3,500 feet of water front, and 

 including 20 large buildings ; a company turn- 

 ing out reclining, carrying, and invalid rolling 

 chairs, revolving bookcases, library supplies, 

 and portable desks, cots, etc., which last it sup- 

 plies to the United States army ; a company en- 

 gaged in manufacturing woodwork for names, 

 using 800,000 feet of elm logs yearly, and disburs- 

 ing $1,500 a month ; a brewery capitalized at 

 $250,000, a brick and tile, and stone sidewalk 



