Mary T. Dersch, curator, East Grand Rapids History Room
Streetcars brought thousands to Reeds Lake to celebrate the national holiday.
Spectators sit on the lawn of the Ramona Theatre Pavilion in Ramona Park on the busy west shore of Reeds Lake, July 4, 1907 – in the colorized real picture postcard above and the photograph seen below.
From their perches, people view the excursion steamboats Major A.B. Watson and the Hazel A as they glide past Rose’s Bathing Beach and the Lakeside Club building. They are making their way to the big dock to pick up more passengers for more fun trips around the lake.
Plenty of early Fords lined Lakeside Drive. All kinds of family fun was on hand, including: Foot races, a bicycle race, pie eating contest, greased pig catching contest, three legged race and greased pole climbing. The ladies were invited to participate in the peanut rolling contest, dash race, wood sawing contest and nail driving competition. Plenty of rides and food and game concession stands delighted the crowds in the Park. Families could swim at Rose’s or at Manhattan Beach on the north side of Reeds Lake. Local semi-professional baseball teams the Madison Squares and the Grand Rapids Independents played at Ramona Athletic Park. Top-notch vaudeville shows at the Theatre were standing room only. The evening was aglow with fireworks launched from the lake.
HISTORY
Ramona Park, 1880s – 1954, bordered by Wealthy Street, Lakeside Drive and Lovett Avenue.
Grand Rapids’ own Coney Island was established by the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company as a resort in the early 1880s. The company purchased 20 acres of property at the end of the streetcar line at Reeds Lake to encourage ridership. Ramona began as a resort and grew into a true amusement park with all the bells and whistles after the turn of the century. Its heyday was in the 1920s and 30s. After WWII, attendance and profits dwindled. The citizens of EGR voted to replace the Park with apartments and retail stores.
East Grand Rapids is a small town with a GRAND history!
Please visit your East Grand Rapids History Room located on the upper level of the EGR Library, 746 Lakeside Drive SE. Follow along on Facebook too. Website: eastgr.org >About >East Grand Rapids History Room
