Native American settlement
For thousands of years, succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples occupied the area. Over 2000 years ago, people associated with the Hopewell cultureoccupied the Grand River

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Topography
Grand Rapids developed on the banks of the Grand River, where there was once a set of rapids, at an altitude of 610 feet (186 m) above sea level. Ships could navigate on the river up to this fall line, stopping because of the

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2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 188,036 people, 72,126 households, and 41,015 families residing in the

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K–12 public education is provided by the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) as well as a number of charter schools. City High-Middle School,

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In 1969, Alexander Calder's abstract sculpture, La Grande Vitesse, which translates from Frenchas "the great swiftness" or more loosely as "grand rapids," was installed

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Law enforcement
The Grand Rapids Police Departmentis tasked with law enforcement in Grand Rapids and has been serving the city since 1871. Since 2001, the

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Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Spectrum Health is West Michigan's largest employer, with 25,600 staff and 1,700 physicians in 2017. Spectrum Health's Meijer Heart Center, Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, and Butterworth Hospital, a level I trauma center

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