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LAKEWOOD FARM & ZOO

George Getz’s Famous Attraction in Holland, Michigan

By Valerie van Heest

From the time of its build in 1903 as a working farm in Holland, Michigan, to the time it closed as a farm, garden, and zoo attraction in 1933, Lakewood Farm and Zoo and the people associated with it embodied the spirit of the Progressive Era, a period in the early twentieth century during which government and individuals responded with care, responsibility, and strength to the political, economic, and social problems created by rapid industrialization in America.
This book reveals new information about the origin of the farm and portrays George Fulmer Getz as a nationally recognized industrialist and philanthropist who championed many of the Progressive Movements while he developed the nation’s largest private agricultural, horticultural, and zoological attraction. It includes a newly discovered collection of historic photographs and offers a rare view of this historic property today.

NonFiction ISBN:978-0-9801750-8-0  | Soft cover | 8.5 x 10 Format | 160 Pages | 244 images|  $27.95 Free U.S. Shipping

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Valerie van Heest is a principal in Lafferty van Heest and Associates Exhibit Design Firm, director of Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA), and a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, who has explored, documented and interpreted shipwrecks for over twenty years. She is a recipient of multiple awards for the collection, preservation and promotion of state and local history through her interpretation, writing, filmmaking, and exhibit work. She has written several books and magazine articles and written and directed more than a dozen documentary films. Her work has been featured in numerous books and articles as well. She is a regular presenter at museums, libraries, and film festivals, sharing the dramatic stories of ships (and an airplane) gone missing on the Great Lakes and has appeared on television news networks as well as on the History, Discovery, and Travel Channels.