Jean Baptiste Recollect Trading Post

Jean Baptiste Recollect Trading Post is a Michigan historical marker in Muskegon County, dedicated 1980.

310 Ruddiman Drive, North Muskegon

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Near this site, on the shore of Muskegon Lake, stood the first Indian fur trading post in Muskegon County. It was established in 1812 by Jean Baptiste Recollect, a French fur trader believed to be this area’s first white settler. Jean Recollect remained here for about a year when a new manager took over. The Muskegon post operated as a successful business enterprise for many years. Remains of the chimney of Recollect’s station were visible as late as 1836.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1817 · North Western and MichiganTerritories. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1852 · Wisconsin (Cowperthwait, 1852) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1853 · Map of the surveyed part of Michigan (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1854 · A map of the surveyed part of Michigan / by John Farmer ; engraved by S. Stiles & Co. (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
1874 · Colton's Michigan (1874) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

North Western and MichiganTerritories, 1817, covering the location of Jean Baptiste Recollect Trading Post, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — North Western and MichiganTerritories, 1817, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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