A Short History of Grand Rapids Annexation

by Matthew Ellis – GRHS Trustee

In 2016, the Grand Rapids Business Journal published an article on a possible deal between the City of Walker and the City of Grand Rapids. The proposed agreement would be to share a piece of property eyed for redevelopment. Due to Grand Rapids’ size, it can access Brownfield Redevelopment Financing funds to help clean up the site, but Walker didn’t meet the size requirements. The two municipalities agreed that the property would be assessed and taxed by Grand Rapids but stay under the jurisdiction of Walker for ordinance and regulation purposes. This agreement allows the site to access those Brownfield Redevelopment funds.

This type of property transfer, made possible by Public Act 425 of 1984, is a far cry from the annexation battles that took place in the 1950s and 60s. From the so-called Dilley Scheme to the “New City” plan, Grand Rapids and its surrounding municipalities have a complicated history of growth, succession, and annexation.

The original boundary of the Village of Grand Rapids encompassed only the east side of the river. In those early village days, the west side of the river was populated by the Anishinabek people and by residents of Walker Township. Walker incorporated as a township in 1837, one year before Grand Rapids officially incorporated as a Village.

Grand Rapids as a village may still have been considered a part of Grand Rapids township, which had been organized first in 1834. When Grand Rapids became a full-fledged City in 1850, the municipality “succeeded from Grand Rapids Township, or at least that is how the Grand Rapids Township historical accounts put the event. But Grand Rapids as a city also expanded west over the river, annexing land from both Walker Township and the Anishinabek.

In 1850, Grand Rapids boundaries extended from Wealthy St to Leonard St, and Eastern Ave to Straight Ave, over the Grand River. In 1857 and 1891, further annexations took place growing Grand Rapids. Wealthy St. had been extended south to Burton St., annexing land from both Wyoming and Paris Townships. Eastern avenue had extended to Sylvan Ave south of Fulton, and its present-day border with East Grand Rapids. Leonard St extended north to Knapp St, and Straight Ave extended toward Bristol.

After the 1891 annexations, the City of Grand Rapids had grown from 4 square miles to 17.25 square miles. There was a slew of annexations after this, but most were less than 1 square mile in total. A 1926 vote took place in Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids to consolidate the two cities, but voters rejected the idea. In 1927 a piece of land was annexed in the east from Grand Rapids Township; Aquinas College occupies that piece of land.

In the latter half of the 20th century, annexation would start to ramp up again. In 1955, City Commissioner Stanley R. Davis stated that annexations of townships were likely, “because citizens there are paying three or four times the taxes citizens of the City pay.” There was also the issue of Grand Rapids providing water to the surrounding communities that may have prompted annexation talks. In 1957 a Metropolitan Water Authority was proposed, which would have provided water for all the greater Grand Rapids area. However, voters in Grand Rapids disliked the idea because it would mean more of their taxes would be used to provide water outside of the City, and there was the fact that they already had water provided for them.

In 1959, a report was put out by the Special Annexation Study Committee that urged that the City not provide water, sewer, and other services to outside communities. Their analysis found that the City would only benefit if the areas were annexed. The Grand Rapids Press called this report “the most forthright document of its kind ever drafted in this community.” It reversed a policy that had been in place for quite some time. The solution that the Grand Rapids City Commission and the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce came up with was the “New City” plan. The proposal they sent to each surrounding community was a gold sealed envelope, delivered in person to the clerks of each municipality, or so the Grand Rapids Press put it. The plan was to join all of City of Grand Rapids with Wyoming, East Grand Rapids, Walker, Paris Township, and Grand Rapids Township into a new Grand Rapids. The outside communities did not take well to this proposal. They saw it as a “flagrant attempt to destroy local autonomy.” The vote took place in December of 1959 but was overwhelmingly opposed.

The City decided to push forward with annexation. For an annexation vote to take place, ten voters in the City had to sign a petition along with ten voters in the area to be annexed, and then a vote would take place in the land to be annexed and in Grand Rapids. If the City of Grand Rapids owned the property, all that annexation needed was a vote by the City Commission, which is how Roosevelt Park became part of the City.

There is evidence that many in the outside communities indeed wanted annexation. In 1956, the Grand Rapids Herald reported that North Park Residents and the North Park Board of Education were pushing to join the City. This push was in part because the residents had outgrown the North Park Elementary School and did not have the funds to add to the building. They also did not have a high school, and students had to travel to Creston or Comstock Park. For a family to send their child to a High School outside their district, they paid $200, which would total over $1500 today. It was clear that the North Park Board of education knew that North Park could not continue without annexation; so strong was their conviction even though once an annexation took place, their school district would dissolve and they would be out of a job.

The major annexation push took place in 1960. On August 2, 1960, an annexation vote took place in Walker and Grand Rapids Townships. The motion passed, and Grand Rapids added another 12.67 square miles, growing by nearly a third. Grand Rapids Township was reduced in size dramatically. “Overnight, the township lost two-thirds of its citizens to Grand Rapids, dropping from 12-14,000 residents to 4,968.” The City absorbed five school districts due to the annexation. Walker Township lost its original town hall in the land transfer.

A plan by Albert Dilley, a local attorney, to annex land in Paris Township was also created at the time. This new kind of annexation called for voluntary land ownership positions, where the majority of property owners in a section of land could file a petition to be annexed. It was not clear whether this had to go to a full vote, but many widely disliked these annexations that resulted. The pamphlets and newspaper ads deriding what they called “Dilley Scheme” explained it as an underhanded ploy for annexation.

The surrounding townships now incorporated as fully-fledged cities as a way to prevent further annexations along their boundary. This move to become cities, along with a supreme court case that stated the entire municipality having its land annexed, was required to vote on annexations, protected the surrounding communities.

The aversion to annexation seen in the Grand Rapids Press and the Grand Rapids Herald may be a distant memory now. The animosity may have faded to cooperation. The 2016 deal between the Walker and Grand Rapids mark a contrast in which partnership is the key, and where we can see that when a surrounding community benefits, the broader community benefits.

“A Short History of Grand Rapids Annexation”, by Matthew Ellis – GRHS Trustee.