New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Historic Markers
N 42° 47.990 W 086° 02.721
16T E 578064 N 4739029
There are a few parking spots for parking in front of the cemetery.
Waymark Code: WMJWQH
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 01/07/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member lumbricus
Views: 8

Side 1:
New Groningen Cemetery is the only remnant of the dream of Jan Rabbers to establish Groningen, a commercial and industrial colony for Dutch immigrants who where not farmers. The log house and store owned by Rabbers and his wife, Cornelia, once stood on this site. In 1858, where the residents of Groningen relocated to the village of New Groningen about one mile northeast of here, the Rabberses sold the property to the churchyard association. Additional land purchases brought the cemetery to its present size. Most graves have simple headstones. Those of more prominent settlers can be identified by the large obelisks denoting family plots. Many of the oldest graves are unmarked, the wooden markers having deteriorated and disappeared.


Side 2:
Established in 1847 as the commercial and industrial center of the Dutch colonies settled by immigrants in Ottawa County, Groningen began as a thriving village. Groningen 's founder, Jan Rabbers, was among the followers of Albertus Van Raalte who established the Holland settlement earlier that year. For his own community, Rabbers chose a site on the Black River, which he thought would become a major trade artery because of its location at the end of a navigable waterway. He built a small log house and store on this site, a bridge over the river, and a lumber mill nearby. The promising village died when the bridge washed out in 1856 and a new one diverted traffic to that area. Groningen's citizens relocated their settlement to that site which they called New Groningen.
Description:
Side 1: New Groningen Cemetery is the only remnant of the dream of Jan Rabbers to establish Groningen, a commercial and industrial colony for Dutch immigrants who where not farmers. The log house and store owned by Rabbers and his wife, Cornelia, once stood on this site. In 1858, where the residents of Groningen relocated to the village of New Groningen about one mile northeast of here, the Rabberses sold the property to the churchyard association. Additional land purchases brought the cemetery to its present size. Most graves have simple headstones. Those of more prominent settlers can be identified by the large obelisks denoting family plots. Many of the oldest graves are unmarked, the wooden markers having deteriorated and disappeared. Side 2: Established in 1847 as the commercial and industrial center of the Dutch colonies settled by immigrants in Ottawa County, Groningen began as a thriving village. Groningen 's founder, Jan Rabbers, was among the followers of Albertus Van Raalte who established the Holland settlement earlier that year. For his own community, Rabbers chose a site on the Black River, which he thought would become a major trade artery because of its location at the end of a navigable waterway. He built a small log house and store on this site, a bridge over the river, and a lumber mill nearby. The promising village died when the bridge washed out in 1856 and a new one diverted traffic to that area. Groningen's citizens relocated their settlement to that site which they called New Groningen.


Parking nearby?: yes

D/T ratings:

Registered Site #: L2095

Historical Date: Not listed

Historical Name: Not listed

website: Not listed

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Recent Visits/Logs:
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just for the fun visited New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen 08/25/2015 just for the fun visited it
theHostas visited New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen 08/25/2014 theHostas visited it
Historic Markers visited New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen 01/08/2014 Historic Markers visited it

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