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Acting on Governor John J. Bagley's suggestion to the state's citizenry to plant trees to celebrate the nation's centennial in 1876, the City of Holland transformed Market Square, platted in 1847 but deserted for a number of years, into a Victorian design called Centennial Park. Later, community public buildings were built facing this park. Initially the park contained gravel paths and the newly planted trees. Other improvements soon followed—lighting was added in 1894; oak benches installed in 1896; and the central twenty-foot-high fountain of tufa rock was built and donated in 1902 by Tenius Ten Houten.