Michigan’s Historic Log Jam Nearly Sank The Furniture Industry

There are a lot of interesting things from Michigan’s past that have defined what the state would become, good and bad.

One of the most interesting things that defined the state of Michigan in the late 1800s was a log jam that nearly destroyed Grand Rapids and could’ve possibly ruined not only Michigan’s infrastructure but the entire furniture industry, which was a major source of West Michigan‘s commerce.

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Michigan Enjoyer recently shared a story from Kamden Mulder, which talks about an incident that took place 142 years ago, back in July 1883.

As they describe in their Facebook post, over 600,000 logs were sent down the Grand River, which is the longest river in Michigan.

There were apparently so many logs sent down the river that if you laid them out, by the end, it could’ve wrapped around the entire earth. But it wasn’t just the amount of logs that caused this jam-up, as they describe:

Beginning in June 1883, West Michigan experienced heavy rainfall. Less than a week later, the river had reportedly risen 18 inches. Log jams formed along the river, and despite the work, the levels rose again, and this time, it was too much. After a log jam from the Flat River broke and ran into the Grand, the larger log jam in that river also broke, sending the lumber flying through the water.

As they continued, this caused massive amounts of damage to railroads everywhere in the state:

The 600,000 logs were sent down the river, destroying everything in their path. In the meantime, important bridges—including one that the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee Railroads operated on—collapsed.

If it weren't for the planning of lumberjacks in Grand Haven, who placed booms in the river to catch the logs, they would have poured into Lake Michigan and would have basically lost all that wood, which would have done irreparable damage to the furniture industry. They'd basically have all been lost.