Local History

The tract upon which the city is located was selected by Alfred Kidder, of Marquette, in 1879 and he received his patent to it in 1881.  He conveyed it to Andrew Young in 1884.  Edwin H. Piper owned it in 1902, and in October 1908, Douwe Gaastra, a building contractor and real estate speculator, bought it and platted the village named for him.  Incorporated as a village in 1919 and as a city in 1949.

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