Showing posts with label Those Places Thursday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Those Places Thursday. Show all posts

Those Places Thursday: St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,

St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan 2012

Kirk and his brother and two sisters were all born at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The hospital located at 200 Jefferson Ave. SE has undergone many changes since the Leyndyke siblings were born there in the 1950's.

St. Mary's started in August of 1893 as a 15 bed hospital by the Sisters of Mercy.  It was located in what was then a house turned into a hospital.  St. Mary's acquired homes and land near the original hospital and grew into what it is today.  

The picture above is taken from St. Andrew's Cathedral looking east.  A 1913 historical picture of the hospital can be found here.  A history of St. Mary's can be found here under the Grand Rapids section of the article.

0 comments

Those Places Thursday-Marywood Academy, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,

Marywood Academy, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Graduating Class of 1946

Kirk's mother, Elizabeth (first row, second from left), graduated from Marywood Academy in June, 1946.  Marywood Academy was a private catholic school, located on East Fulton Street, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It was a four story building situated on beautifully, landscaped grounds. A picture of it as it was in 1944 can be found here.

The left side of the building was where the classrooms and rooms for boarding students were. Elizabeth was a day student, meaning she went home after school.  The right side of the building was where the nuns lived.  The chapel was in the center on the first floor.

Kirk and I took a day and explored Grand Rapids.  We took pictures that were genealogical in nature.  The picture below is how Marywood looks now.  The 34 acre campus is no longer a school, but a home for Dominican Sisters.  Space is leased to a few community programs, such as Headstart.  Chapels, administrative offices, and a Health Center are located at Marywood.  The Dominican Center is here, too.  It is a place where groups can meet to hold retreats, conferences, etc.



The trees have grown since Kirk's mother attended, but Marywood is still in existence, much as it was in the 1940's.  It is a wonderful piece of Grand Rapids history and one of our family's history as well.

2 comments

Those Places Thursday-St. Andrew's Cathedral, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , , , , ,

Kirk and I spent a day last summer visiting ancestral places in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This is the  area where many of Kirk's ancestors settled.

One special visit was to St. Andrew's Cathedral.    St. Andrew's is located at 301 Sheldon Blvd., Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Kirk's grandfather, Bertrand Corcoran, attended high school at Catholic Central High School which is across the piazza of St. Andrew's.  Kirk's grandparents, Bertrand and Leona (Dollaway) Corcoran were married here in 1925.  I would love to have a picture of their wedding at St. Andrew's, but so far haven't found one.  Kirk's great grandparents, Timothy F. Corcoran and Helen (Schmitt) Corcoran's funerals were held at St. Andrew's.

Timothy Corcoran and family lived on Lafayette Street in Grand Rapids, which is just a few blocks from St. Andrew's.  St. Andrew's was the family church when Bertrand and his brother, Howard, were growing up.

The pictures below are from our visit to St. Andrew's in 2012.

Entrance to St. Andrew's Cathedral, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan


Altar of St. Andrew's Cathedral which was remodeled in 1979-1980

Cornerstone at St. Andrew's, which was established in 1875

St. Andrew's Cathedral and Piazza Secchia which was laid in 2009.

The Piazza Secchia explaining that St. Andrew's Piazza was modeled after Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome.  

2 comments

Wilcox Park Grand Rapids, Michigan

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: ,

Wilcox Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan
 Kirk or his brother, Jim on the slide, at Wilcox Park Playground

Kirk at Wilcox Park's Skating Rink

The two pictures above are of Kirk at Wilcox Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Wilcox Park is at 100 Youell Avenue in Grand Rapids.  It was just a couple of blocks from Kirk's childhood home.  Kirk tells stories about the neighborhood friends going there and hanging out and playing at the park.  Kirk and his friends, Tommy D., Joey L., Dickie F, and Tom S. would play baseball, play in the creek, and in the winter they would ice skate.  Wilcox Park is still a vital part of the neighborhood today.  They even have a Facebook page!

 Wilcox Park, Summer 2012



0 comments

Sint Philpsland, Netherlands-Those Places Thursday

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,

Current Day Map of Sint Philipsland, Zeeland, Netherlands

Sint Philipsland is located in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.  It is the name of the village where many of Kirk's van den Bos ancestors lived.  The village of Sint Philipsland was founded in 1645.

1866 Map of Sint Philipsland, Netherlands

Neeltje Cornelia van den Bos, Kirk's great grandmother was born in Sint Philipsland in 1877.  I have traced the van den Bos family to the 1700's in Sint Philipsland.  Other ancestor's surnames include Nelisse, Quist, van Oostende, Verwijs, de Zutter, and de Groene.  These surnames are from Sint Philipsland, Netherlands, too. 


Christian Reformed Church, Sint Philipsland, Netherlands

The Christian Reformed Church in Sint Philipsland, Netherlands was built in 1668.  Kirk's ancestors were of the Christian Reformed faith.

The above map of The Netherlands shows where the van den Bos name can be found today.  The darker the color the more people with the van den Bos name living in that area.  Sint Philipsland is to the left of the arrow.





2 comments

Arcade News in Grand Rapids, Michigan-Those Thursday Places

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,

Arcade News Matchbook Cover
Found on ebay.

Kirk's grandfather, Bertrand F. Corcoran, was the owner of Arcade News, 16 Arcade, Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 1940's.  Arcade News was a two story business that sold tobacco products.  But, that wasn't all it was.  

One time while visiting Kirk's grandmother, Bert's wife, Kirk asked her what type of store his Grandpa used to own.  Her reply, ''oh, that was a front, honey."  I nearly laughed out loud.  While we knew about his 'business' it was funny to hear a ninety year old woman call it that.

The Arcade News was a front for a numbers business.  Numbers is a form of illegal lottery/gambling operation.  The numbers business took place on the second floor.  There was a separate entrance for this.  Bert had a Grand Rapids police officer on the payroll.  This officer informed Bert of when raids were going to take place so that Bert could clean everything up before the raid.  I am not sure how long Bert owned Arcade News.  I will have to put it on my to do list to research more.

16 Arcade was located between Pearl and Lyon Streets in downtown Grand Rapids.  Do you know anything about Arcade News?   Please share in the comments section.     


0 comments

Dutch Reformed Church, Vierpolders, Netherlands: Those Thursday Places

Author: Brenda Leyndyke / Labels: , ,

 Dutch Reformed Church
Vierpolders, Netherlands

Dutch Reformed Church
Vierpolders, Netherlands

The Dutch Reformed Church in Vierpolders, Netherlands was built in 1721.  This church is the one that Jan Cornelisse Luijendijk, the son of Cornelis Arend Luijendijk-Kirk's eight great grandfather, helped found. 


Tom deMeijer, a Netherland's genea-friend told me, "It is not more than a chapel really, but very nicely situated on a higher part in the middle of the village between old trees and very well restored.  Besides the church,  you will see the old pulpit (original of 1721) and the State Bible offered to the church by Lady C.A. van Salis de Marcheling, born Baronesse van Leyden.  The organ is not original, but a recent copy of an organ as used in the early 18th century."

He explained the Dutch Reformed Church also, "In the Netherlands we distinguish the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormde Kerk) and the later separation, the more orthodox "Gereformeerde Kerk".  Both words "Hervormd " and "Gereformeerd" translate as "Reformed" in English.  The "Hervormde" branch was a more liberal form of Calvinism, but since a couple of years both churches have merged again.

2 comments

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)