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 New Groningen Cemetery / Groningen
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
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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Visit Instructions:Take a photo of your GPS at the marker. We'd prefer a photo of you with your GPS, but we realize that sometimes that's just not possible or preferable.
Also include a bit about your visit to the marker.
NEW: Instructions for logging Missing Marker Visits.
If the Marker is missing, but still listed here, you must provide a photo of you at the actual item historically honored. (This should be the waymark's "default" image). Indicate in your log that you took your photo at the Historical Location instead of the marker, because the marker was missing. Please also still include a bit about your visit to the site.
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