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140 Bostwick Street, was built around 1847-1851 as the residence of Henry R. Williams, the first mayor of Grand Rapids, at the southeast corner of Bronson Street (renamed Crescent Street in August 1885) and Bostwick Street. Situated on a sandy hill overlooking Crescent Park and the Grand River, the residence offered commanding views of the growing city.

After Williams’ death in 1853, the residence passed to two subsequent owners—first George K. Johnson, and later, in 1864, Orrin S. Camp—eventually becoming known as the Johnson House and later the Camp House. After his wife's death in 1878, Camp put the house up for sale, describing the property as situating a “large stone Gothic house, two and one-half stories, stone barn and the four or six lots upon which the buildings are located.”

In March 1887, the property was purchased by Jeremiah W. Boynton, who over time leveled the hill, removing over 1,000 loads of sand, and in August 1889 received permission from the city to demolish the house. Boynton ultimately commenced the demolition in 1891 to make way for new tenement flats he was building, a double set of white-brick houses with Ohio stone trim, on the southern portion of the lot.

The tenement flats lasted less than a decade. In May 1898, the cornerstone was laid for Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on the site. The church, a Gothic Revival structure of brick construction, was dedicated on 20 Nov 1898.

In 1912, the city underwent an address reorganization. Bostwick Street was formalized as Bostwick Avenue SE and Crescent Street as Crescent Street NE.

Trinity underwent remodeling in 1917, and a chapel was added in 1951. The church served as a downtown landmark for 63 years until 1961, when it relocated and the property became home to the Grand Rapids School of the Bible & Music.

Today, the location is part of Grand Rapids Community College’s Richard Calkins Science Center, which houses life and physical science classes. The $30 million, 134,000-square-foot facility, built by Pioneer Inc., was completed on the former site of GRCC's Spectrum Theatre and the G Building.

Geographic Coordinates: 42.96860746200705, -85.6661005563393

Links and Resources

  1. FOR SALE, Grand Rapids Daily Leader, 1879-06-16, Page 4

  2. Will Have a New Home, The Evening Leader, 1887-05-09, Page 4

  3. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1888, Page 19

  4. The Evening Press, 1889-08-13, Page 4

  5. THE CRESCENT PARK: The City Will Still Own the Pretty Hill Side Resting Place, The Evening Leader, 1889-10-19, Page 1

  6. The Evening Leader, 1891-04-27, Page 4

  7. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1895, Pages 11, 23

  8. FOR THEIR NEW CHURCH, The Evening Press, 1898-05-21, Page 7

  9. GRAND RAPIDS NEWEST CHURCH, The Evening Press, 1898-11-21, Page 3

  10. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1912, Vol. 1, Pages 25, 26

  11. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1950, Vol. 1, Pages 25, 26

  12.  GLIMPSES OF TOWN A HALF CENTURY AGO, The Evening Press, 1900-11-24, Page 3

  13. GRCC Calkins Center drawing lot of interest, Grand Rapids Press, 2000-01-14, Page 27

  14. PAYING TRIBUTE: Science Center name a reward for 23 years of building up college, Grand Rapids Press, 2000-04-11, Page 15

  15. Grand Rapids History Center, 018-003-005_287

  16. Grand Rapids History Center, 018-003-005_288

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