Petition to Move Market from Campau Park

The South Retail Farmers Market was started in 1918 at the request of neighbors through petitions, letters by women's clubs, and other civic engagement. It was the second market started in Grand Rapids after the Leonard Street was opened as an experimental market in the northwestern part of the city. This market started near Campau Park. After eighbors complained it moved to the Truant School Grounds at the southwest corner of Ionia and Franklin. In 1924, after complaints by neighbors, it was moved further south on the east side of Division Avenue between Crofton and Cottage Grove. It lasted until the early 1970s when its existence faded out of the archives following the neighborhood uprisings of the late 1960s. This collection includes the original petition written to the City Commission to move the market in 1921. The petitions were transcribed and each person is included with available information and mapped in relation to the marketplace. This data will be added to a food environment map of the South Division section of Grand Rapids.