Grand Rapids Cycle Company Factory

Grand Rapids Cycle Company Factory was an industrial building with cream-colored brick walls and distinctive arched window openings that let light flood into the work areas. The structure featured wooden floors and a practical layout designed for manufacturing operations during the late 1800s.

The factory was built in 1895 and started bicycle production in 1891, growing rapidly during the cycling boom of the 1890s. Sales doubled year after year as the demand for bicycles surged across the nation.

The factory represented the industrial advancement of Michigan through bicycle manufacturing, contributing to the national expansion of cycling transportation in the late 1800s.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 but removed in 2022 following a fire in 2007. Visitors should know that the original structure no longer stands as it once did.

After bicycle production ended in 1899, the C.S. Paine Company used the building for furniture manufacturing, while Kent Foundry later operated there. The building went through a fascinating transformation from a bicycle factory to a multi-purpose production site over several decades.