The Michigan Ground Water Association (MGWA) was organized in the late 1920s as the Michigan Well Drillers Association (MWDA) with the help and encouragement of faculty members from Michigan Agricultural College. This school in East Lansing, Mich., was the original land-grant school founded at its present location in 1855. It later became known as Michigan State College, and today, is a thriving educational institution known as Michigan State University.
By 1929, records indicate that MWDA had become successful enough to hold its first convention, held on the Michigan State campus. Around 1940, MWDA was sent off on its own by the college’s faculty (as was planned from the beginning) and held a convention elsewhere. Records indicate that conventions were held even during the dark days of World War II and on — including the boom days of the late 1940s and 1950s known by us older drillers as the golden age of well drilling. Conventions were held in various cities around Michigan at fair grounds, hotels, armories, indoor hockey rinks and, eventually, at convention centers built for that exact purpose.