Wyoming Michigan History Room

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Wyoming Michigan History Room The Wyoming Historical Commission maintains a Local History Room in the Wyoming, Michigan Library. This is an online extension of our room and it’s archives.

Those interested in more details are encouraged to visit the Room during open hours. Members of our Wyoming Historical Commission are on site during open hours to assist you as well as learn more about your experiences in Wyoming. We are open on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 am until 2 pm, and every Tuesday from 4:30-7:30 pm.

News from 100 years ago, October 1926
10/26/2026

News from 100 years ago, October 1926

We talk a lot on here about our local Rogers Plaza, Michigan’s first indoor mall, and often criticize what it has become...
10/25/2026

We talk a lot on here about our local Rogers Plaza, Michigan’s first indoor mall, and often criticize what it has become. This also applies to the “stand-alone” department stores in Wyoming such as Arlan’s and K-mart, as well as the former Southland Plaza. Few of us, however, accept our roles in how it might have come to this. In most cases, it’s the customers, or more importantly the lack thereof, who decided the fates of the department stores.

From giant downtown department stores to mall anchor stores to the internet. You might miss the big stores, but you probably wouldn’t shop there today. The following are the key factors that changed the way America shops (excerpted from the link, below).

“If you grew up in the 1940s or 1950s, you may remember department stores as destinations in their own right; by the 1970s and ’80s, they were more likely to be the giant anchors at the ends of your local shopping mall. Today, the department store has become an even smaller part of American life. Macy’s, JCPenney, Kohl’s, and a handful of other familiar names remain, but many stores that used to be ubiquitous have disappeared altogether.”

“The early American department store giants were designed to make shopping feel like an outing rather than an errand.”

“The sheer variety could be astonishing. Instead of visiting separate shops for shoes, clothing, housewares, and toys, customers could find all of those things under one roof.”

“The biggest stores became part of the identity of their cities, and their Christmas windows became traditions in themselves.”

“The department store’s golden age changed after World War II, when millions of Americans moved to the suburbs and the automobile reshaped where people lived, worked, and shopped. Downtown stores had once benefited from pedestrians and public transportation, but increasingly, shoppers wanted easy parking and stores closer to home.”

“As malls became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, department stores became their anchor tenants, occupying enormous spaces at opposite ends of the shopping center and drawing customers through the smaller stores in between.”

“Instead of heading downtown on a Saturday, families could spend an afternoon at the mall, shopping for clothes, appliances, toys, shoes, and household goods under the same roof, fueled by a quick meal at the food court. For teens and tweens, the mall offered a place to hang out with friends in an environment parents felt comfortable allowing them to roam.”

“The rise of discount retail put new pressure on the traditional department store model. The year 1962 saw the launch of three major discount brands: Kmart, Walmart, and Target. As their territory expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, they offered many everyday products at lower prices while operating more streamlined, stripped-down stores.”

“Department stores also became caught between different kinds of competitors. Discount retailers could undercut them on everyday basics, while specialty stores such as the Gap, Ann Taylor, and Express focused on narrower categories and specific customer groups, offering deeper selections and quickly changing fashions. The old department store promise of “everything under one roof” was less compelling when shoppers could find lower prices at discount brands or go to a specialty store elsewhere in the mall for a more focused shopping experience.”

“With the rise of the internet, the department store faced a competitor with no aisles, no parking lot, and no closing time. Online shopping made it possible to compare prices instantly, search for specific products without walking through an enormous store (or even leaving your couch), and have purchases delivered to your home.”

“E-commerce wasn’t the sole reason department stores declined, but it added another layer of competition to an industry that was already struggling to adapt.”

“The sprawling one-stop shopping experience that defined American retail for generations, however, has become something that many shoppers now remember fondly but rarely seek out in person.”

To read the full article, go to https://historyfacts.com/us-history/article/american-department-store-history/?lctg=f7e96c9b-4aac-4e42-ae58-4903e029776a&fbclid=IwdGRjcAVKq5VleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mAWZkaWQWUQ_sY5F5DgLEGPxQVCQcHw7dfv-1QHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6LGd_DZPeYojayHDKfLHc5n2l0MbztuBI12pxWXtXAvjZr0P5j0pmpeShoHg_aem_VlqQhqYPXxHqEvWMQRjd4Q&utm_campaign=3562952680&utm_content=email_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=21951859

On this day in history, Burger Chef opened at 1285 28th St. SW in Wyoming 1966
10/22/2026

On this day in history, Burger Chef opened at 1285 28th St. SW in Wyoming 1966

WHO PULLED THE PLUG?That was the question being asked in February 1961 about the water level at the Lamar Lake. The phot...
10/22/2026

WHO PULLED THE PLUG?

That was the question being asked in February 1961 about the water level at the Lamar Lake. The photo from the Grand Rapids Press issue of Feb 18, 1961, shows Wyoming's Park Supervisor, Forrest Hess, illustrating with a couple of measuring sticks how far the water had sunk (pun intended). It shows at least a four-foot drop leading the city engineer, Paul T. Spelman, to suggest that wouldn't likely be swimming that summer. While Hess was standing on solid ice for the photo, the island behind him normally would have been below the waterline. Lamar Lake, improved in the late 1930s through a federal Works Progress Administration project, had a normal depth of twelve feet at its deepest point.

Spelman hypothesized that the water was draining into gravel pits sitting west of Lamar Park. They were still in use and were being enlarged through continued gravel removal, permitting the water to spread out further and decreasing the water pressure near those ponds. The difference in pressure led to Lamar's water flowing westward into those gravel pits faster than springs could replenish it. In the photo, the arrow points to the current depth and the crossing of the two measuring sticks is what it should have been.

At the time the drop was discovered, it wasn't clear what the city might do to reduce the rate of flow westward. Three solutions were being considered:

1. Dump clay into Lamar to help hold the water.
2. Cover the bottom with a thick coating of cement (most expensive).
3. Pipe water from one of the gravel pits into the Lamar Lake.

Apparently, the problem may have been self-correcting since Spelman announced in late May that the water had risen slightly. And for the first time this coming summer, Wyoming would have two swimming lakes as the bathing facilities at Battjes Park would be ready by July.

Lamar Lake would have other "ups and downs" over the years. In March 1963, the water level was about four feet deep, but it rose another nine foot within the next three weeks.

We previously posted an 1863 plat map that illustrated the Wyoming Township school district boundaries from the township...
10/20/2026

We previously posted an 1863 plat map that illustrated the Wyoming Township school district boundaries from the township's 1861 Annual Report to the Superintendent of Michigan. You can scroll down to find that post and image.

Nothing is constant except change, and this 1876 plat map illustrates the school boundaries (in 1879) including fractional districts with Paris, Gaines, and Byron townships. If you compare it to the 1863 plat map, you can spot some of those changes. The six-pointed stars indicate where the district's schoolhouse sat.

District No. 1 - this is Grandville and it has expanded southward. It will eventually become a "Union District" when it enters a fractional agreement with portions of Ottawa County.

District No. 2 - this becomes known as the Newhall District.

District No. 2 Fractional - located at the bottom-right corner of Wyoming Township, it is fractional with Paris, Gaines and Byron Townships, which becomes known as the Townline District.

District No. 3 Fractional - this becomes known as the Emmons District and is fractional with Byron Township.

District No. 4 - this is a new district organized after the original District No. 4 combined with Paris Township to create District No. 6 Fractional in 1867. This new District No. 4 becomes known as Wyoming Park and is organized in 1874.

District No. 5 Fractional - this becomes known as the Whitney District and is fractional with Byron Township.

District No. 6 - this becomes known as the Freeman District.

District No. 6 Fractional - this becomes known as the Godwin District and is fractional with Paris Township.

District No. 7 - this becomes known as the Godfrey-Lee District and its boundaries, which originally ran from S. Division Avenue to Grandville, have shrunk quite a bit since the 1861 Annual Report, despite the fact it has the second largest enrollment in the township next to Grandville.

District No. 8 Fractional - this becomes known as the Kelloggsville District and is fractional with Paris Township.

District No. 9 - established in 1879, this becomes known as the South Grand Rapids District, Rogers District, and then eventually as part of the Wyoming Public School District. Its boundaries change in 1891, 1916, and 1962 owing to annexations and district consolidations. For a time, from 1899 until the annexation of 1916 led to the establishment of the Rogers District No. 9, it was fractional with Paris Township and became the largest school district in Wyoming.

District No. 10 - does not yet exist and won't until 1887 when it becomes known as the Maple Hill District, taking the southern portion of the Grandville District.

At the very bottom-left corner, a notch is removed from the township. This property is part of District No. 4 Fractional with Ottawa County's Hanley School District.

The other day, a post on the dedication of the new Wyoming Post Office Branch building on Michael Avenue drew some inter...
10/18/2026

The other day, a post on the dedication of the new Wyoming Post Office Branch building on Michael Avenue drew some interest. The article below from the Oct 19, 1966 Grand Rapids Press pointed out the city's desire to not just have a branch of the office in Grand Rapids, but felt Wyoming should have its own main office.

As the legend goes, although not found in any published accounts, the powers-that-be in Grand Rapids, upset with Wyoming's resistance to annexation, convinced the people in the Chicago office not to approve the request. They were likely preparing for another annexation attempt, that fortunately failed.

This building was constructed in 1930 in the block that previously was home to the Mulvihill Superior Service and Motor ...
10/18/2026

This building was constructed in 1930 in the block that previously was home to the Mulvihill Superior Service and Motor Company, on the southeast corner of what is now Chicago Drive and Nagel Avenue. That area had been part of the acre of land where the old one-room Green School sat from 1857 to 1894.

When Mulvihill moved down to the corner of Wendler and Chicago Drive, this building and the one to the right in the photo were built. The drugstore opened first and was operated by Ben Burkhead into the 1970s.

The store pictured at 1156-58 Chicago Drive (the address was 1890-1892 until 1943) opened in February 1930 as Samuel DeYoung’s Grocery. Deyoung, who lived nearby on Wendler Avenue, had been the manager for the A & P store but must have decided to go it alone and start his own business. He joined the Quality Service Stores consortium of “home owned stores” which was battling the national chains like A & P and Kroger by touting their stores were “100% loyal to Grand Rapids.”

By May 1931, however, the store was being run by Joseph D. Raymond and Sam DeYoung was back managing an A & P store. Raymond continued under the Quality Service banner and operated his grocery until 1935. At that time, the Kroger Grocery & Baking Company, which had operated a small store at 1257 Chicago Drive (1927-1929) having taken over Simon Kaat’s old store, and then next door at 1255 Chicago Drive (1929-1939) in the vacant C. Thomas Store building, decided to move east and take over Raymond’s store at 1156-58 Chicago Drive. It was typical back then for both Kroger and A & P to jump leases from one site to another as they battled for the best location and building size.

Kroger stuck it out in this building until 1940 when it moved into a newly built store just east of Godfrey Avenue behind the White Rose (Four Star) gas station. The building at 1156-58 then sat empty taken over by Henry Wierda in 1946. Within a couple years, it changed hands again, this time becoming the C & M Food Center operated by Adolph L. and Marian Centilli. The Centilli’s ran the business until around 1952 when Lyle Breen, World War II veteran officer and post-war Army reservist, as well as a former football teammate at South High School to President Gerald R. Ford (Breen was a guard on the line next to Ford, the center). Breen sold the store, which had become a seven-day-a-week job, to have time to watch his kids in sports. Earl Grunwell purchased the store in 1964 and operated it under the name Tony’s Food & Beverage. He ran the business through the early 1970s and then it underwent a number of transitions over the years, including Paunchy Pete’s, Burke’s Bargain Center, Chicago Drive Unclaimed Freight, Second Hand Rose, Ardie May’s Attick (sic), and Country Cousins Antique Mart, just to name a few.

Today, this store and the other three in that block have been combined into the Supermercado Mexico grocery business (photo below).

Continuing with the "nuclear war" theme of the previous post, a year prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, governmental uni...
10/16/2026

Continuing with the "nuclear war" theme of the previous post, a year prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, governmental units were surveying sites that could potentially serve as "fallout shelters" in the event of an attack. Wyoming's World War I picric acid plant, now the site of the L.E. Kaufman golf course and Grand Valley Armory, was given "serious" consideration according to the Grand Rapids Press news article, below. A 1960 Abrams Aerial photo gives another illustration of the ruins on the former picric acid reservation that sat on the northeast side of Buck Creek, south of today's ball field and armory on 44th Street.

Sixty-four years ago, the Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, when reconnaissance photographs revealed Sovie...
10/16/2026

Sixty-four years ago, the Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, when reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba, marking the start of a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fear and uncertainty spread all the way to the young City of Wyoming. Schools reacted with a mix of heightened civil defense protocols, emergency drill changes, and intense anxiety.

The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. The crisis ended two weeks later after the world came the closest it has ever been to an all-out nuclear war.

On November 12, the Godfrey-Lee school board convened its regular monthly meeting and took up the problem of responding to a nuclear attack. During the 13-day crisis, a bulletin had been sent home to parents with the following instructions that were then adopted by the board as district policy:

(1) If there is a fifteen minute or more time between the warning and the expected attack
the children will be sent home.

(2) If there is an attack in another part of the country and there is danger of nuclear fallout
the children will be sent home. There will be ample time for this as the fallout danger is entirely dependent upon the wind current.

(3) If there is not sufficient time to send the children home they will be kept in the most
sheltered parts of the school under the supervision of the teachers for as long as seems practical. Any parent may call for their children if they wish.

This policy was in line with federal guidelines issued by the Civil Defense Agency and was
adopted by the board unanimously.

Interestingly, if the third option would have been called for, the following additional guidelines were to be placed in effect:

(1) In the event of only a flash or loud sound as a warning, students will be instructed to “Duck and Cover”, and get under their desks.

(2) In the event of an imminent attack with 10 minutes warning, students will be directed to
school halls.

Students in Godfrey-Lee, as well as others in Wyoming (including the drills I recall at Holy Name School) practiced for a nuclear attack by conducting “duck and cover” drills.

The school board also approved a request by the City of Wyoming to designate the Lee School as a disaster center in the event of an attack. For many years, a yellow and black, triangular Civil Defense sign hung on the front of the school just outside the main entrance.

Source: Board of Education minutes

This grainy photo is of Paul B. Wright standing in front of his garage on the northwest corner of Burton Street and Kamp...
10/15/2026

This grainy photo is of Paul B. Wright standing in front of his garage on the northwest corner of Burton Street and Kamp Avenue, most likely taken sometime before 1940. But there’s more to the story than this photo.

The structure, located on the northwest corner of Burton Street and Kamp Ave in Galewood (lot 6 and 7, Block 2, Kamp’s Addition) was built in 1907 by Paul’s father, James E. Wright who operated a blacksmith shop at that location. He and his wife, Sarah B. Burton, married in 1883 and had three children, all born in Jenison prior to 1889. Paul was the youngest.

The family moved to South Division and Highland Street in Grand Rapids after 1900 and by 1910, Paul had been working as a machinist in a local factory. The following yea, he joined his father’s blacksmith business. Besides shoeing horses, the Wrights repaired electric motors and bicycles. The 1912 Sanborn Fire Map shows the blacksmith shop as an “electric motor, bicycle repairing, machine shop, and horseshoeing” business.

The family moved to Hudson street in 1915 and the business name was changed to J.E. Wright & Son, blacksmiths. Two years later, James died and Paul took over the business calling it the Paul B. Wright Garage, while still residing with his widowed mother at the Hudson street home.

World War I came and federal officers appeared at Paul’s garage informing him that he had failed to register for the draft. It was reported that Paul promptly fainted. He was taken by the officers to the federal building where he allegedly staged another fainting spell and could only be partially revived. Now standing before the draft board, Paul passed out one more at their questioning but the board members felt it was a dodge. They forced Paul to complete the registration form and then referred the matter to the district attorney. The DA’s investigation determined that Paul knowingly refused to register at the time required and had made boasts that he would not. In court, he continued acting dazed and confused and gave the impression he was unable to answer the questions. The judge sentenced him to one day in jail while several others received 30–60-day sentences for their delinquent registration. Apparently, the judge took compassion with his “physical condition” which reportedly included suffering from inflammatory rheumatism.

In 1920, Paul moved into a living area at his Burton Street business and took a job as a laborer for the Pere Market Railway Company in the nearby Wyoming Yard. He continued to operate his garage, as well. In 1928, Paul moved out of the Burton Street residence and was living at 27 Grant SW. Two years later, Paul and his mother were renting a place on Lexington Street in Grand Rapids while still operating the garage at 1125 Burton Street. His mother, Sarah, died in 1936 from heart disease, and the following year the garage was listed as vacant in the city directory. Paul, however, is still listed as a laborer with the PMRR and may have moved back to his Burton Street property.

Come 1940, Paul ran afoul of the Wyoming Township Fire Commission which had lodged a complaint with the Michigan State Police over the poor condition of his Burton Street garage and their desire that it be condemned. A detective was tasked to interview Paul and inspect the site. At that time, Paul stated it was only being used as his home. This prevented the detective from entering the building due to state law. However, his inspection of the exterior led to a 30-day deadline tear down the building and remove all rubbish. The report also mentioned that back taxes were owed for 1938 and must be paid by May 1 or the property would be sold for taxes. Paul responded that he would make a list of repairs and was given a 90-day extension that did not seem to please the township Fire Commission members. However, by July he had accomplished considerable improvements which may have been the reason for the photo, below.

Paul retired from the railroad in 1950 and four years later, was married for the first time to Wilma Pratt Bauder Rienks, who had twice been made a widow. She ran a small restaurant on Chicago Drive just west of Godfrey Avenue and Paul moved in with her. Shortly after the marriage, the garage on Burton Street was torn down. It would later become a parking lot (color Google Earth photo).

Paul died in October 1966 making Wilma a widow for the third time. She had changed from the restaurant business to a variety store which would be known by a generation of kids growing up in that area as “Billie’s Variety.” But that’s a whole different story.

Address

3350 Michael Avenue SW
Wyoming, MI
49509

Opening Hours

Tuesday 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

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+16162613508

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