Did you know?

• Muskegon derives its name from the Chippewa word "Muskego" (Ottawa-"Muskegon") meaning "river with marshes."
• Benjamin Wheelock changed the face of the city of Muskegon in 1837 by building the area's first sawmill.
• In 1887, Muskegon acquired the title of "Lumber Queen of the World." It was also known as "The city that cut the lumber to build Chicago and a hundred prairie towns." Much of the lumber used to rebuild Chicago after the great Chicago fire came from the Muskegon area.
• Captain Jonathan Walker became a national hero in 1844 when he was tried and sentenced as a slave stealer following an attempt to assist seven runaway slaves find freedom. He was branded on the right hand with the letters SS signifying "Slave Stealer." He became an ardent abolitionist in the years before the Civil War. At the war's end he moved to Muskegon and lived the peaceful life of a fruit farmer. Upon his death in 1878 he was buried with full honors in a ceremony attended by 5,000 people at the Evergreen Cemetery in Muskegon. A unique marker depicting a likeness of Walker's hand marks his final resting-place. The abolitionist was made famous by John G. Whittier's poem, "The Branded Hand."
• Pere Marquette Park received its name from the famous French Explorer who spent a night near the mouth of Muskegon Lake on April 16, 1675, two days before he died.
• Lake Michigan sand dunes have been termed by some as the 8th natural wonder of the world.