photograph
Catalog Number
2021.16.5Description
Black and white digital photograph showing the Harrington Fuel, Oil and Coal Company. The company was located at W. 8th and Washington Blvd. This photo was taken ca. 1960.History
Austin Harrington was a licensed lake captain and contractor who served as the Holland harbormaster for over fifty years. In 1888, Austin opened a wood and coal yard on the corner of Eighth Street and First (Washington) Avenue, with a loading dock on Black Lake. Known asHarrington Coal, business was so good that by 1917 it had tripled.
In the late 1920s Austin’s sons Harry and Carl joined the company, which by then ran the largest coal yard in town. Harrington Coal never turned a needy customer away empty handed and even supplied competitors when supplies ran short. Austin Harrington died on 8-2-1939 in Holland, MI. He is buried in Pilgrim Home Cemetery.