The
Van Raalte Family Homstead: Its Rise and Demise, 1847-1961 (excerpts)
During
the approximately thirty-five years the Van Raalte family
lived in the Van Raalte homestead, it was a home filled with
children, visitors, and lots of activity... After his wife
Christina’s death on 30 June 1871, Van Raalte continued
to live in the home with his unmarried daughters Anna and
Maria. The 1875 deed of purchase stipulated that the unmarried
daughters had the right to continue living in the family
home until they married and set up housekeeping in their
own homes.
The house
has been gone for forty years, but people, especially those
who remember the gracious home, still ask the question from
time to time: Why was the home of the founder of Holland,
Michigan, destroyed? This essay is an attempt to tell the
history of the Van Raalte family home and the events that
led to its demolition. The intent is not to place blame for
the destruction of the homestead but simply to relate what
happened and why. Possibly there is a lesson in it for us
all that if we do not care for our historic buildings, they
may, one by one, be destroyed.
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