Log jam on Grand River, July 1883
This photo can be found on page 37 of Old Grand Rapids by George Fitch, 1925. "Unusual rains during June and July, 1883, made high water in the river. Lumbermen took advantage of it to float down their logs. A jam formed at the D. & M. bridge and the logs massed thirty feet deep and seven miles long. On July 26, 1883 the bridge gave way and 100,000,000 feet of logs, forced by the flood conditions, shot through town in less than two hours. On their way, (the logs) took down three railroad bridges and damaged the others."
The photo is taken from the west bank of the river, facing east with a view of Grand Rapids Chair Company, later Baker Furniture Company, on Monroe just south of Ann Street . According to local train researcher Tom Carter, the D & M Railroad was actually the D, GH & M (Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee) Railroad, as of 1878 and five years before this photo was taken. The D, GH & M is today known as the Grand Trunk.