 In the early 19th-century Maple Rapids was a site where Maketoquit and his large band of Ottawa processed maple sugar, although their main base was further east in modern Shiawassee County, Michigan.It was named after the rapids on the Maple River by George Campau, (brother of Louis, founder of Grand Rapids), in 1826 when he built a trading post here.In 1852, William Hewitt built a dam, a sawmill and a store, platted the land and became the first postmaster.