Happy '616 Day,' West Michigan!

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — June 16 means a celebration for the greater Grand Rapids area, which uses the area code “616.”

Here are some fun facts about the greater Grand Rapids area:

Arts

• La Grande Vitesse is the first public artwork funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
• Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is one of the world’s 100 most-visited art museums.

FOX 17

• ArtPrize is the world’s richest, most radically open art competition.
• Newsweek Magazine named the Grand Rapids Art Museum one of the six best buildings of 2007.

Eats

• Stella’s Lounge serves America’s Best Burger (GQ Magazine, 2012).
• However, USA Today says the Cottage Burger at Cottage Bar is Michigan’s best.
• MadCap Coffee brews up America’s Best Tea (GQ Magazine, 2012).
• The Cornmeal Financier Cake at Grove is one of America’s “101 most crazy-awesome new desserts” (New York Magazine, 2012).
• Founders Brewing Company is the World’s 2^nd Best Brewery (ratebeer.com, 2012).

Craft Beer Marketing Awards

• HopCat is the 3^rd Best Beer Bar on the Planet (Beer Advocate, 2012).

Play

• 28 public golf courses, within 15 minutes of downtown, make Grand Rapids one of the top cities for per-capita public golf courses.
• The Fifth Third Riverbank Run is America’s largest 25K road race, with more than 21,000 participants from around the globe.
• Grand Rapids is a “Bicycle-Friendly Community” (League of American Bicyclists, 2009) and the “Best Town for Mountain Biking” (Outside Magazine, 2010).
• You’re never more than a few miles from a body of water in Grand Rapids – one reason why we’re America’s 6^th Best Fishing City (Field & Stream Magazine, 2006).

History

• Ottawa Indians were Grand Rapids’ first inhabitants.
• French fur traders settled the city in 1826.
• The city’s name comes from the Grand River, Michigan’s largest inland river.
• Gerald R. Ford, a native son, became the 38^th President of the United States on August 9, 1974.

FOX 17

• Grand Rapids is home to two Frank Lloyd Wright designs – the privately-owned Amberg House and the Meyer May House, which is open to the public three days a week.

Miscellaneous

• Grand Rapids is Michigan’s second-largest city, with a metro-area population of 1.4 million people.
• The Gerald R. Ford International Airport is the second-largest airport in Michigan and the 86^th largest airport nationally, serving more than 2 million passengers, annually.

Gerald R. Ford International Airport

• Grand Rapids is home to many national and multi-national headquarters, including Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, Alticor (formerly Amway), Wolverine World Wide, Meijer and Zondervan.
• Grand Rapids was the first city in the United States to add fluoride to its drinking water, way back in 1945.
• Michigan is second only to California in agricultural diversity, and West Michigan produces 85% of all crops harvested in Michigan. That economic impact is more than $2 billion.
• Michigan is America’s third-largest apple producer, and Kent County produces more than any other county in Michigan.

Follow FOX 17: Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - YouTube