Located in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Ottawa Hills Neighborhood is bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Street (formally Franklin Street) on the north, Grand Rapids city limits on the east (approximately Cadillac Drive), Hall Street on the south, and Giddings Avenue on the west.

 

Ottawa Hills was platted out as a residential area in the early 1900s on what was then the Grand Rapids Golf Club. The first houses were built in 1922 and homes continued to be constructed until the 1950s. The winding roads are said to follow the paths of the former fairways.

 

In 1972, the Ottawa Hills Neighborhood Association (OHNA) was established to preserve the neighborhood’s unique features and prevent the decline that many other local neighborhoods were experiencing. Over the past 50 years, the neighborhood association has evolved and now sponsors many events, including an annual garden tour, ice cream social, tree plantings, neighborhood-wide garage sale and neighborhood clean-up. Ottawa Hills is also the site of Michigan’s longest-running Independence Day parade, the Hollyhock Lane Parade, of which the Association is a sponsor.

 

The strength of the neighborhood association comes from a group of committed residents working together.

​