MUSKEGON , city, United States məskēˈgən, city (1990 pop. 40,283), seat of Muskegon co., W Mich., on Lake Michigan; inc. as a city 1869. A port of entry, the city is a car-ferry terminus and a shipping point for a farm, fruit, and industrial region. Among its many manufactures are automobile parts and engines, foundry products, chemicals, paper products, sports equipment, ink pigments, gasoline pumps, and heavy machinery. A fur-trading post was established there c.1810. The first sawmill was built in 1837, and the lumber industry thrived until 1890, when the city was swept by fire. ____________________ Copyright© 2007 Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. -33424- |