Skip to main content

I'm learning as I go

I've got one official article posted, one queued up, and one that I'm putting together the final touches on.  I've got a flurry of article ideas in my head, and I hope I can solidify some direction or aim for the overall blog that I'm trying to run:

-Please, please reach out to me for any questions, comments, or concerns!  I'm still learning this whole blogging thing!  If you have anything to add, get ahold of me either here, via email, or on other social medias.  I'm TulipCityDispatch@gmail.com, @TulipCityDispatch on Insta, and @TulipDispatch on Twitter.  I strive for academic standards, and as much transparency as I can offer.  It is not my intent to misrepresent any of the people, places, or things that I write about - however, I'm just one guy doing this in my spare time, and I'll probably miss something.

-I struggled with naming this blog.  As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I want to showcase the little oddities around Holland and the greater Ottawa County area...things that aren't necessarily in the tourist brochures or history books, but the little things that give character to West Michigan.  I was thinking of "Beyond The Tulips" or "Behind The Tulips," or some variation thereof, but there are blogs under both those names from The Netherlands.  The name "Tulip City Dispatch" brought to my mind the feel of an old-timey newspaper, and eventually, I want to have the entire blog feel like that.

-I've got articles scheduled to auto-post on Wednesdays, but to maintain transparency, I want to add some filler posts in the meantime (like this one).

-Not gonna lie, I got so wrapped up in books at the library for the first couple articles I have up that I completely forgot about a plain ol' Google search.  That has turned up some great results for my planned 3rd and 4th posts that simply aren't published in any books that I can find.  The truly weird stuff isn't officially documented, and takes a different type of homework to track down social media posts, email addresses, and phone numbers associated with urban myths and legends.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Merry Christmas from Tulip City!

I don't have a full article this week, but here's a little bit of trivia for you: While Holland is a predominantly Christian Reformed city, it was the early Methodists that sprung the Christmas spirit. While an 1867 Sunday School Christmas Program drew nearly 150 youngsters to Hope Church, it was several generations before the Reformed church allowed even Christmas trees into their sanctuaries, as Christmas trees were seen as Pagan symbols. Early Methodists adopted the 19th Century American spirit, and welcomed things like Christmas trees and even Santa Claus into their sanctuaries. I tried to determine exactly how long "several generations" were using Dr. Swierenga's book (and the sources he cites), but could not ascertain the exact time. It's almost certainly somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years (before the Christian Reformed Churches allowed 'pagan' Christmas symbols), which would put their allowing of such things into the early 20th century, but ...

The Cedar Swamp Village

Holland has only been a settled city for a little over 170 years. But, it's got a dense, unique history. I took an interest in local history during my college years at Northern Michigan University, and was able to take that interest back home after graduation. Recently, I began researching for this blog, and hanging out at the library, poring through the Local History section. I found an old, forboding looking book, entitled Memorials Of The Grand River Valley, flipped open to a seemingly random page, and read the passage "The Indian village, near the southeastern limits of the city,w as also a prominent landing-place. The log-houses, built by the Indians, were of great service to the newly arrived immigrants; and, as it appears, there never has been any trouble between the Red man and the Dutchman." This piqued my interest, as I live near the southeastern limits of Holland. Was there an Indian village in my own neighborhood that history forgot? Memorials ad...

The Ghost Town in Hudsonville

When the term "ghost town" is brought up, one doesn't usually think of modern subdivisions and upper-middle class suburbs. The classic "ghost town" is usually applied to a town that was abandoned when a major industry dries up, leaving crumbling shells of buildings, maybe some artifacts, and nothing but memories.  You know the drill, overgrown storefronts, smashed windows, tumbleweeds, maybe a hobo or two. Briefly, there was an interurban rail system all around Western Michigan in the late 19 th and early 20 th century. I won't go into details, as the whole system is well-documented elsewhere, but the electric train systems allowed for the transportation of people all around the major metropolitan areas in West Michigan...Grand Rapids was a major hub, and they had lines going to Grandville, Jenison, and Hudsonville along Chicago Drive; south to Kalamazoo; and as it pertains to this story, to Holland and Saugatuck. The branch between Grand Rapids an...