ABOUT this website…
Pam VanderPloeg documents and shares the architectural history of old, modern, and contemporary city buildings and historic architects and builders. Articles and stories are found on the drop-down menus, and published works, as well as projects-in-process are listed below.
Photos and text are copyright 2025 unless otherwise noted. Unauthorized use of written material or images is prohibited by law.
PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT
Grand Rapids Downtown Buildings $30.
Newly formatted and updated—A guide to the historic and modern architectural landscape of downtown Grand Rapids. On Grand Rapids’ vibrant downtown streets, sturdy brick buildings of the 1800s still stand tall, beautifully restored and harmoniously juxtaposed with the sleek concrete and glass towers of the 20th and 21st centuries. On these pages, you will find approximately 180 buildings arranged in 14 short walking tours to be enjoyed from an armchair or a pleasant stroll around downtown.
Copies of Grand Rapids Downtown Buildings can be purchased at the Grand Rapids Public Museum Gift Shop—272 Pearl NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ottawa Hills: Early Owners, Architects & Builders $40.
NEW! 2025 Updated with an expanded introduction and new history, including the addition of selected homes in the East Grand Rapids Section of the original Ottawa Hills Development.
Book Signing at the annual Ottawa Hills Garden Tour on Saturday, June 29, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Watch for the WGVU Feature on the Ottawa Hills Neighborhood, June 2025.
Features Jennifer Moss touring the neighborhood and talking with neighbors, Ottawa Hills Neighborhood Association President, and VanderPloeg. Airing time will be announced here when available.
BOOK PROJECTS IN PROGRESS
Grand Rapids Modern Homes and Buildings — Post-WWII architects and builders who put the modern into the metropolitan city. Long in the making, this book is an image-rich history of these architects and builders’ modern designs constructed during the economic boom and housing shortage of the post-World War II years.
J. Alexander McColl —A catalog of over 160 homes and buildings designed by the talented and popular architect who became one of the city’s most prolific residential designers of upscale period-style homes. Graduating from the University of Michigan in 1916, McColl began designing homes and buildings soon after and continued working until his death in 1968. He left behind an impressive body of work that includes everything from English cottages, Colonial, and Mediterranean houses, to International style and Mid-century ranch homes.
NEW WEBSITE COMING —Midtown GR Neighborhood— Stories about the homes and sites in this late 19th- and early 20th-century neighborhood that developed via street car transportation. A neighborhood growing in popularity, its hotspots include the popular Fulton Street Farmer’s Market, Martha’s Vineyard (technically in Heritage Hills), Houseman Field, and the Fulton Street Cemetery, the city’s oldest cemetery. This highly walkable neighborhood was home to many interesting city residents, including former First Lady Betty Bloomer Ford, who grew up in Midtown on Fountain Street and was the wife of 38th President Gerald R. Ford.
UPCOMING EVENTS—Pam VanderPloeg
Ottawa Hills Garden Tour —Saturday, June 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Book Signing.
Pantlind Lecture Series, OLLI at Aquinas College: “The Story of the Pantlind Hotel” and “Behind the Scenes” Hotel Tour— Fall 2025 Course in Two Sessions. Check back after June 30 for date and time and how to register.
“Grand Rapids Downtown Buildings” —West Michigan Genealogical Society, November 1, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. Grand Rapids Public Library Auditorium.
"Grand Rapids Iconic Downtown Hotels, Still Here and Long Gone" —Michigan Postcard Club Monday, December 8 at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, Grand Rapids.
CONTENT CREATOR AND SITE ADMINISTRATOR
VanderPloeg is the recipient of the 2023 Albert Baxter Award from the Grand Rapids Historical Society for significant contributions to the preservation and interpretation of Grand River Valley history and the 2021 David D. Smith Humanitarian Award from the Grand Rapids Chapter, American Institute of Architects for elevating architecture in the community. VanderPloeg’s background is in Library Administration and Research with Master’s Degrees from Indiana University and Aquinas College.