photograph
Catalog Number
2022.29.162Description
Color photograph showing the back of a Chris-Craft boat at the 2011 Boat Show.History
The Holland Museum was founded in 1937 by Bill Wichers. The museum's first exhibits were shown that same year in Hope College's Memorial Chapel. In 1937 or 1938 the success of these first exhibits led to a more permanent home for the Netherlands Museum in the Masonic Temple building on 10th Street. The 1938 Holland city directory lists 29 East 8th (the Visscher-Brooks building) as the location of the Netherlands Museum offices.In 1939 the museum moved yet again, this time to the site of the original hospital on the corner of 12th and Central where the museum opened to the public in 1940. Museum offices were now on the 3rd floor of Holland City Hall.
In 1992 the Museum moved across Centennial Park and took up residence in the old post office building at 31 West 10th Street. At that time the 55-year old institution was re-named the Holland Museum.
Bill Wichers served as director from 1937 to 1986. Reid Van Sluys replaced Wichers in 1986 and served as director until 1990. Ann Kiewel took over that same year and guided the Holland Museum for nearly 14 years before retiring in 2003.
In 2004 Ann was replaced by Julie Parke. Joel Lefever, long-time curator for the Holland Museum, replaced Parke as director the same year. Joel stayed on in this role through 2008.
Thea Grigsby served as director from 2009 to 2011. Steve Rosen, interim director in 2011 and Mary Esther Lee, interim director in 2012 followed Grigsby.
Chris Shires came on board as museum director ca. 2013 followed by Janet De Young as interim director in 2017. Ricki Levine has served as director of the Holland Museum since 2017.
Holland, MI resident Peter T. Moerdyk was affiliated with the museum for more than 20 years, mostly as curator.
Chris-Craft founder Christopher Columbus Smith announced in June of 1939 that a boat building plant would be established in Holland, MI. The Chris-Craft headquarters was located in Algonac, MI at that time.
By August 2 of 1939 work began on the plant on 22 acres of land at the corner of Aniline Ave and Douglas Ave. Smith did not live to see the completed plant. He passed away in September of 1939.
A year later Chris-Craft was awarded a contract to build 27 speedboats for the US Armory. The boats were to be used to rescue downed aircraft pilots. In 1942 Chris-Craft would be awarded the Army-Navy E award for wartime production. By this time Chris-Craft had added a third plant in Cadillac, MI. By the end of WW2 Chris-Craft had produced more than 12,000 thirty-six-foot vessels that were used as marine landing craft.
In 1955 Chris-Craft acquired Holland's Roamer Steel Boat Company from Robert Linn. Roamer had been building steel-hulled cabin cruisers since 1946. The following year Chris-Craft built a new plant in Holland on Lakewood Blvd. By 1960 there were 700 employees working on as many as 120 boats at a time.
Eventually labor strife and ongoing financial issues would bring an end to Chris-Craft. Between 1985 and 1989 the Holland plants closed. In 1989 the remaining employees finished building the last boat.