Flat River (Michigan)

Last updated
Flat River
WhitesBridge FlatRiver Scene DSCN9933.JPG
Flat River upstream from Whites Bridge, Fall 2006
Flat River Map US MI.svg
Location
Country United States
State Michigan
Counties Montcalm, Kent, Ionia
Cities Belvidere Township, Lowell, Greenville, Belding
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationFirst Lake, Montcalm County
 • coordinates 43°26′23″N85°6′7″W / 43.43972°N 85.10194°W / 43.43972; -85.10194
 • elevation915 ft (279 m)
Mouth  
 • location
 Grand River
 • coordinates
 42°55′40″N85°20′19″W / 42.92778°N 85.33861°W / 42.92778; -85.33861
 • elevation
617 ft (188 m)
Length70 mi (110 km)
Basin size560 sq mi (1,500 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationmouth
 • average530.62 cu ft/s (15.025 m3/s) (estimate) [1]

The Flat River (Ottawa: Quabahquasha, "Winding Stream" [2] [3] ) is a tributary of the Grand River in the western part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It rises as the outflow of First Lake, the last in a chain of geographically close, connected lakes known as Six Lakes in Belvidere Township, west of Edmore in Montcalm County. It flows mostly south and slightly west through Montcalm County, Ionia County, and Kent County, flowing into the Grand River in Lowell. Other cities it flows through along the way include Greenville and Belding. [4]

The river was an important water route and fishing source for the Grand River Band of Ottawa who lived along it in the 18th and 19th centuries. [5]

Two historic covered bridges cross the river. One, the Fallasburg Bridge, in Vergennes Township, Kent County is in Fallasburg County Park a few miles north of Lowell. The other, Whites Bridge is a few miles to the northeast in adjacent northwest Keene Township, Ionia County, near Smyrna. [4] On July 7, 2013, an arson fire destroyed White's Bridge. [6] Fund-raising efforts are underway in attempt to have the bridge rebuilt. At the time of its destruction, it was the oldest covered bridge of its kind in Michigan. [7]

There are 5 dams along the river: Greenville, Belding, Whites Bridge, Burroughs and Lowell. [4]

It is the river named in the song "Sad Ballad of Jack Haggerty", sometimes known as "Flat River Girl."

Flat River in Michigan, ca. 1910 vintage postcard Flatriver.jpg
Flat River in Michigan, ca. 1910 vintage postcard

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montcalm County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Montcalm County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,614. The county is geographically located in the West Michigan region of the Lower Peninsula. The county seat is Stanton, and the largest city is Greenville. The county is named for General Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, military commander of French troops during the French and Indian War. The county was set off in 1831 and organized in 1850.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Kent County is located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the county had a population of 657,974, making it the fourth most populous county in Michigan, and the largest outside of the Detroit area. Its county seat is Grand Rapids. The county was set off in 1831, and organized in 1836. It is named for New York jurist and legal scholar James Kent, who represented the Michigan Territory in its dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ionia County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Ionia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,804. The county seat is Ionia. The Ionia County Courthouse was designed by Claire Allen, a prominent southern Michigan architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ada Township, Michigan</span> Civil township in Michigan, United States

Ada Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,388 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grattan Township, Michigan</span> Civil township in Michigan, United States

Grattan Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 3,621.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vergennes Township, Michigan</span> Civil township in Michigan, United States

Vergennes Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 4,189.

Belvidere Township is a civil township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,135.

Eureka Township is a charter township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,211 at the 2020 census, up from 3,959 in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenville, Michigan</span> City in Michigan, United States

Greenville is a city in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population 8,816 at the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Montcalm County. The city is the location of the establishment of the Meijer chain of stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand River (Michigan)</span> Tributary of Lake Michigan in southern Michigan

The Grand River is a 252-mile-long (406 km) river in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The longest river in Michigan, the Grand River rises in Hillsdale County, and flows in a generally northwesterly direction to its mouth at Lake Michigan in the city of Grand Haven. The river flows through a number of cities, including Jackson, Lansing, Ionia, and Grand Rapids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M-21 (Michigan highway)</span> State highway in Michigan, United States

M-21 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan connecting the cities of Grand Rapids and Flint. The highway passes through rural farming country and several small towns along its course through the Lower Peninsula. Following the course of a handful of rivers, M-21 also connects some of the state's freeways like Interstate 96 (I-96), US Highway 127 (US 127) and I-75. The highway is used by between 1,700 and 36,000 vehicles daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M-91 (Michigan highway)</span> State highway in Ionia and Montcalm counties in Michigan, United States

M-91 is a largely north–south state trunkline highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It runs from Belding to south of Lakeview. Its 24-mile (39 km) length exists entirely within Ionia and Montcalm counties. It is all undivided surface route. Aside from the two Michigan state highways that are its termini, it has only one other intersection with any Michigan state highway, and that is with M-57 in Greenville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M-44 (Michigan highway)</span> State highway in Michigan, United States

M-44 is a 37.463-mile (60.291 km) state trunkline highway in the western region of the US state of Michigan. It runs northward from the intersection of M-11 and M-37 toward the Rockford area. The highway then turns eastward to Belding, and it ends six miles (10 km) north of Ionia at M-66. M-44 is known in Grand Rapids as the "East Beltline" and intersects with its related highway, Connector M-44, in Plainfield Township. This highway runs concurrently with M-37 between M-11 and Interstate 96 (I-96).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornapple River</span> River in Michigan, United States

The Thornapple River is an 88.1-mile-long (141.8 km) tributary of Michigan's longest river, the Grand River. The Thornapple rises in Eaton County, Michigan and drains a primarily rural farming area in Central Michigan. It joins the Grand in Ada, Michigan, 10 miles (16 km) east of Grand Rapids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallasburg Bridge</span> Bridge in Lowell, Michigan

Fallasburg Bridge is a 100-foot (30 m) span Brown truss covered bridge, erected in 1871 in Vergennes Township, Michigan, United States, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Lowell on the Flat River. Carrying Covered Bridge Road across the Flat, it is located in the Fallasburg Historical District south of Whites Bridge and Smyrna. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and along with Whites Bridge, Langley Covered Bridge, and Zehnder's Holz Brucke, is one of only four Michigan covered bridges open to vehicle traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldwater River (Western Michigan)</span> River in Michigan, United States

The Coldwater River is a 19.4-mile-long (31.2 km) stream in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in western Michigan, the river is a part of the Grand River drainage basin.

The Patterson Railroad is a defunct railroad that existed in Michigan during the early 1870s. The company incorporated on September 21, 1870 and filed articles on October 3 to construct a line between Patterson Mills and Kiddville. The Patterson completed a 1.67-mile (2.69 km) in July 1872, at which point the property became part of the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad, whose line it met at Kiddville. The DL&M would later become part of the Pere Marquette Railroad, which also built a line south from Belding.

The Ionia and Lansing Rail Road is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan in the 1860s and 1870s. The company incorporated on November 13, 1865; the investors hailed primarily from Lansing, Ionia and Portland. The original charter called for a 34-mile (55 km) line from Ionia to Lansing; on January 13, 1869 this was amended with a much grander vision: a 125-mile (201 km) line from Lansing to the mouth of the Pentwater River at Pentwater, on the shores of Lake Michigan.

The Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan at the turn of the 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Report: Flat River". watersgeo.epa.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  2. ↑ "Daniel Marsac". Collections and Researches Made by the Pioneer and Historical Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. 38. Lansing, MI: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company. 1912. p. 60.
  3. ↑ History of Ionia County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions. Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co. 1916. p. 462.
  4. 1 2 3 Flat River Michigan Department of Natural Resources
  5. ↑ McClurken, James M. (2009). Our People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. p. 12. ISBN   9780870138560.
  6. ↑ "History in the rubble: How arson-struck Whites Bridge became a West Michigan landmark". 8 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "One year after fire, signs of progress in effort to rebuild Whites Bridge". 6 July 2014.

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