The human occupation of the Muskegon area goes back seven or eight thousand years to the nomadic Paleo-Indian hunters who occupied this area following the retreat of the Wisconsinian glaciation. The Paleo-Indians were succeeded by several stages of woodland Indian development, the most notable of whom were the Hopewellian type cultures that occupied this area perhaps two thousand years ago. During historic times the Muskegon area was inhabited by various bands of Ottawa and Pottawatomi tribes. Perhaps the best remembered of the historic Indian inhabitants of this area was the noted Ottawa Indian chief, Pendalouan. A leading participant in the French-inspired annihilation of the Fox Indians of Illinois in the 1730s, he and his people lived in the vicinity of Muskegon during the 1730s and 1740s until induced by the French to move their settlement to the Traverse Bay area in 1742

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the lumbering era was fading away. The local economy was severely depressed, the community disorganized, and the population restive and demoralized. Led by area industrialists, including Newcomb McGraft, Charles Hackley, and Thomas Hume, the community organized a program of economic development which attracted several substantial businesses to the community. Before long, Muskegon was well on its way to becoming a diversified industrial center, having attracted such firms as Shaw-Walker, Brunswick, Campbell, Wyant, and Cannon, Continental Motors, and the Central Paper Mill to this area. The Great Depression of the 1930s undermined much of that economic development, but the economy rebounded during World War II in response to Muskegon's role as an "Arsenal of Democracy." The 1950s and 1960s witnessed a return to the economic doldrums. Factories cut back on production and laid off employees in unprecedented numbers. Many area businesses closed their doors permanently. The 1960s and 1970s were years of business consolidation when numerous locally owned banks and industrial establishments were sold to giant national and international corporations. Since the 1970s, the industrial community has continued to diversify in order to cope with an ever-changing economy.

Over the years, Muskegon has attracted a unique mix of residents which has helped to shape the cultural and intellectual make-up of the community. The original settlers of the nineteenth century were typically native-born Americans from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. They were quickly joined by immigrants from Canada, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The industrial surge at the the turn of the nineteenth century attracted large numbers of Southern Europeans to the area, while World War II witnessed the arrival of large numbers of Mexican-Americans, Southern blacks, and Appalachian whites. The melting pot diversity of Muskegon's ethnic heritage is in keeping with the varied nature of other elements of its recent pas