This Michigan Historical Marker was dedicated on September 21, 2023. It was made possible with funds from the East Grand Rapids History Room, the City of EGR and the EGR Community Foundation.

The East Grand Rapids History Room has been working on this project since 2015 and is delighted to see it come to fruition. It is so very important to keep and teach the history of East Grand Rapids.

Ramona Park was a true “trolley park.” Like Coney Island in New York, it was built at the end of the streetcar line. The Grand Rapids Street Railway Company purchased land at the end of their line on the west shore of Reeds Lake by 1881. Their land was bordered by Wealthy Street, Lakeside Drive and Lovett Avenue. On this property, they established a resort that invited ridership. In the beginning, there were picnic groves, playgrounds and pavilions for musical concerts and restaurants. Reeds Lake was a very popular destination spot. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, folks came in droves to enjoy a day away from the big city of Grand Rapids and other West Michigan towns. The resort was named “Ramona” in 1886 via a community naming contest held by a Grand Rapids newspaper. The large theatre built in 1897 was also named Ramona through a similar contest.  Both the Park and theatre were named after the heroine in the 1884 historical novel “Ramona” by Helen Hunt Jackson. 

After the turn of the 20th century, the resort grew into a true amusement park that included a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, fun house, games of chance, food booths, miniature train, and a figure-eight roller coaster which was followed by the famous double-tracked Jack Rabbit Derby Racer. People would pay to ride the streetcar or bus - and get into the Park for free, then pay for rides, concessions and entertainment once in the park. A day in the Park would be followed by a ride on the Poisson family steamer SS Ramona which ran in conjunction with the park.

Ramona’s heyday was in the 1920s and 1930s. After WWII the Park was less frequented, not making a profit. There were growing feelings from the community against the Park. The Grand Rapids Motor Coach Company, which now owned Ramona Park, sold the property to a real estate agent after the 1954 season. The 20-acre parkland was sold to build apartments and a shopping center. Ramona Park sprawled over most of what is now Gaslight Village.  The SS Ramona plied Reeds Lake until the end of August 1955 and then was decommissioned and scrapped.

The land on which Ramona Park was located is now a registered Michigan historical site. The Ramona Park marker joins the over 2000 markers across the State owned by the Michigan Historical Commission – Michigan Historical Center program. Our Ramona historical marker is number 2352.