Georgetown Township has experienced many changes throughout its history. It has been a lumber town, a river landing, a quiet farming settlement, and most recently a growing suburban community. Remnants of the lumbering era can be found in the very names of Jenison and Georgetown Township.


The Jenison family arrived in 1836 and began to cut the white pine and hardwood trees. By 1838, the Jenison’s owned 1600 acres south of the Grand River along Rush Creek. George Ketchum built sawmills along Rush Creek in 1837. The area became known as "George's Town.". With the Grand River as its northern border, trees could be easily harvested and floated down river to Grand Haven. Stephen Lowing, John Haire, and the Blendon Lumber Company are a few of the others who lumbered this area.


While most of the trees are gone, remnants of this era do remain. Haire cemetery on Fillmore is the only thing that remains of the Haire Landing. A few pilings in the Grand River help mark Blendon Landing. Located just south of Grand Valley State University, Blendon was a company town complete with a sawmill, hotel, saloon and homes.


As a river landing, Jenison was just one of many in Georgetown Township. The Grand River was a busy river highway between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. Riverboats carried lumber, freight and passengers on the river from 1836 until 1910. Today the Grand Lady, a 40-foot paddle wheeler run by the Boynton Family, helps recreate the atmosphere of this area.


By the 1870's most of the lumber was gone. Many fields had to be cleared of stumps before they could be used for farming. The stump fences and the many pine stumps used as landscaping throughout the township remain yet today. 


There were many successful farmers in Georgetown Township. The Jenison’s and the Lowing’s were some of the first to turn to farming along with many Dutch immigrants. Grain crops and dairy farms, such as Blissveldt Farm and Cedar Crest Farm, were very productive. The Hiram Jenison home on Port Sheldon and the Lowing homes on Bauer are stately reminders of the many farmhouses that dotted the landscape. 


The L & L Jenison Mill was built in 1864. Pride of the Valley Flour was in high demand and kept the mill going until 1953 when things finally ground to a halt. The L & L Jenison Mill was razed in 1963 after it served as an antique shop run by Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Tiffany.


Mr. and Mrs. Tiffany also renovated and lived in another Jenison landmark. This home had been built by Mrs. Margaret Husband at the turn of the century in honor of the Jenison twins, Lucius and Luman. She used funds she inherited from them after working as bookkeeper for their various business ventures. This homestead, located at 28 Port Sheldon in Jenison, now stands as the Jenison Museum.