Our History
A Glimpse Into The Past
Ferrysburg is not a new community. Rather it has its roots woven deeply into the fabric of the Tri-Cities area. It is hoped that you will find this chronology not only interesting but useful to focus on those events that have brought us the Ferrysburg we know today.
Right: William M. Ferry, 1796 - 1867. Founding Father of Ferrysburg
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| 1834 |
This area was first settled by Rev. William M. Ferry and was called Ottawa Point. It was also known as Ferry's Point. |
| 1845 |
The first ferry service was started. A boat or barge was used to provide a link in the "Sawdust Road" from Grand Haven to Ferrysburg. |
| 1849 |
A new sawmill was constructed by William M. Ferry, Jr. to exploit the assorted hard and soft woods available in the area. |
| 1852 |
A spring flood in the Grand River valley washed away bridges, rafts of logs, and over half of the "Sawdust Road" which connected the ferry dock with Grand Haven. |
| 1854 |
William Ferry planted a garden with flowers, shrubs, and fruit trees. It was situated where Johnston Bros. is located and was called "Ferry Gardens." |
| 1855 |
The residence of William Ferry, Jr. was completed. In September, "Ferry & Chandler" finished construction of a new machine shop and foundry called the Ottawa Iron Works. They made steam engines and machines for the lumbering industry. |
| 1857 |
On January 26, Col. William M. Ferry, Jr. and Thomas White Ferry platted the Village of Ferrysburg. There were four streets running east and west: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th; and four running north and south: Pine, Oak, Elm and Maple. It is interesting to note that the first letters of these streets spell poem. The first school district was established in this area as School District No. 1. |
| 1858 |
Records indicate that the school district treasury had $2.50 all of which was owed to the teacher. The following year the school district treasury was depleted to pay the same teacher. |
| 1859 |
The first post office was established with U. B. Eames as postmaster. To this point, there had been three spellings of the village name: Ferrysburgh, Ferrisburg and Ferrysburg. The latter spelling was used when the post office was established and remains to this day. |
| 1864 |
J. W. Johnston founded the boiler-works in a small wooden building near U.S. 31. The company was primarily engaged in making marine boilers, barges and tugs used to tow log rafts on the Grand River. |
| 1869 |
The railroad was brought through Ferrysburg to serve the shops and sawmills and to provide passenger service to several northern Communities. |
| 1881 |
By this time the village population had grown to 411. Ferrysburg was described as a "thriving, busy little village, with flowers, shrubs, trees, and white picket fences." At this time there was a General Store, Meat Market and Post Office on Pine St. near the intersection with Third. |
| 1887 |
Johnston Bros. moved their facilities to the abandoned buildings of the Ottawa Iron Works which had ceased operation. Approximately 30 men were employed by the company. They later moved to the former site of "Ferry's Gardens". |
| 1907 |
The Construction Materials Corp. was established for obtaining and processing sand and gravel. Wooden scows, loaded by hand with wheelbarrows, were pushed by tug 16 miles downstream from the Bass river gravel pits. Wooden tugs were powered by steam engines built by Johnston Bros. |
| 1928 to 1930 |
The aggregate plant was built on sand-filled marshland, which pioneered use of reclaimed wetland for construction sites. |
| 1948 |
The name was changed to Construction Aggregates Corp. Presently, the company is the largest shipper of sand and gravel on the Great Lakes and employs 100 people. More than 2,000,000 tons are shipped by water annually. |
| 1950 |
An addition of new office space was made to Johnston Bros., Inc. to accommodate more help as the boiler industry grew. Today, the company makes boilers for contractors' equipment and also specializes in fully automatic "packaged" boilers for commercial heating, processing, and small power plants. Their boilers have been distributed and installed in almost every country in the world. Employment numbers approximately 80 today. |
| 1963 |
Ferrysburg became a Fifth Class City. |
| 1966 |
The firm of Architects and City Planners, Ann Arbor, was contracted by the city to develop a master plan over a two year period, to be completed in Dec., 1968. |
| 1968 |
In September a significant step was taken when the City Council formally adopted a new zoning ordinance. This replaced the Spring Lake Township Ordinance which had been used as an interim zoning ordinance by the City since 1966. |
Tomorrow
The years ahead for Ferrysburg are bright and promising! Since incorporation as a city in 1963, work has progressed steadily to develop the community with imagination and an eye to the future. Adequate transportation, open land, industrial diversification, recreational resources and substantial residential development all serve to help underwrite and insure the Ferrysburg of tomorrow. The groundwork of organization and planning has been laid. With continued citizen support and participation, the community promises sound exciting growth for many years to come. |
City History
