Holland, MI news and local guide

The Dutch settlers and the Ottawa never got along. Settlers took sugar and venison from the Ottawa and would not accept their mix of Catholic and Native culture, and Dutch leaders tried to push them onto wooded land in Allegan County. Chief Peter Waukazoo and Rev. Smith eventually moved the community and the mission north to Northport on the Leelanau Peninsula by boat and canoe. Van Raalte was the colony's spiritual leader and also oversaw its political, educational and financial affairs, and in 1847 he founded the congregation of the Reformed Church in America that became the First Reformed Church of Holland. Holland was incorporated as a city on March 25, 1867, with Isaac Cappon as its first mayor. On October 8 to 10, 1871, at the same time as the Great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Fire, a fire destroyed most of downtown Holland, one of a series of Michigan fires that also burned Manistee and Port Huron. Its cause is unknown, though the likeliest explanation is that strong winds spread a small brush fire through nearby forests into the town. Sources Wikipedia: Holland, Michigan