GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — For three days in July 1967, parts of Grand Rapids were plagued by fires and violence as a race riot erupted.
These photos, courtesy The Grand Rapids Press Archives via the Grand Rapids Public Museum, show the chaos and destruction.
City on Fire: 50 Years Later
Firefighters battle one of 33 fires set during riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Debris litters the street during the Grand Rapids riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Rioters stole this car on Jefferson Avenue after hitting a passenger in the head with a brick, then drove it into the side of a party store. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Rioters stole this car on Jefferson Avenue after hitting a passenger in the head with a brick. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Smoke billows from one of 33 fires set in Grand Rapids during the riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Police and protesters scuffle during the Grand Rapids 1967 riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
An unidentified man taken into custody during the 1967 riot in Grand Rapids. Nearly 350 people were arrested in parts of three days. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Michigan State Police responded to the Grand Rapids riots after helping with the uprising in Detroit. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Grand Rapids police take an unidentified man into custody during the 1967 riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Lt. Francis Pierce (left) led the city's riot response. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Grand Rapids police take aim at unknown target. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
A Grand Rapids police officer questions young men during the riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Grand Rapids police and Michigan State Police make an arrest -- one of nearly 350. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Grand Rapids police used teargas to disperse the crowd. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Grand Rapids police and protesters on Jefferson Avenue. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
Lt. Francis Pierce, a war hero, led the Grand Rapids Police Department's response to the riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
South Division Avenue, looking north,, where police set up to block rioters. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
A black business owner's message to rioters. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
A burned-out building left behind by rioters. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
In a lighter moment, a Grand Rapids police officer poses with residents during the 1967 riot. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Public Museum/Grand Rapids Press Archives)
