GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Generations of beachgoers in Grand Haven have driven past an old coal tower next to Chinook Pier. Now 100 years old, the station is in need of repairs and one local man is raising money to restore it.
The Grand Trunk Western Standard Coaling Tower, standing 79 feet tall, has overlooked Jackson Street and North Harbor Drive since 1925. The structure was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 2016. Now, the structure needs significant repairs to preserve its place in the community's history.
"It's just been sitting here for a longtime and it just hasn't had a lot of care and concern," said Ken Formsma, the man leading the Grand Haven Coal Tipple Project.
Steam engines once rolled between the tower's arches where tons of coal would drop into the train's tender, fueling Grand Haven's once-thriving railroad industry.
The Executive Director of the Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Erica Layton, explained the easy access to Lake Michigan and the Grand River made Grand Haven a prime location for railroading.
"It was a big transportation hub for moving goods and people across the state," Layton said.
Grand Haven's railroad industry last 100 years, from 1858 to 1958. The last train to leave Grand Haven in 1958 had just four riders — two going to Coopersville and two headed to Grand Rapids.
"[Grand Haven] has transitioned more to tourists and residential areas. You still see echos from the past and the legacy that was the railroad in Grand Haven," Layton explained.
However, those echoes from the past — like the coal tipple — are beginning to deteriorate. Formsma, a retired teacher from the area, is raising money to clean up and restore the tower.
"We have an issue here, because of its age, 100 years old that spalling occurs and that's nothing more than there's cracks in the concrete, moisture gets behind there and the rod rusts and then it falls to the ground," Formsma said.
Formsma says the coal tipple is just one of three still standing in the state, and he hopes to keep it that way.
"This could easily be called something that's useless, because it's not going to function, but there's that historical piece," Formsma said.
The Tri-Cities Historical Museum is holding an ice cream social later this summer to celebrate the tipple's 100th year. People who want to donate can do so here through the Grand Haven Community Foundation.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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