Southwest Michigan Area History

For many people, both residents and visitors alike, Southwest Michigan's historical facts are quite interesting as well as surprising.

Southwest Michigan's factoids include:

  • 11,000 years of settlement complete with mammoth and mastodon hunting.

  • Being a "stop" along the Underground Railroad.

  • Home to the Civil War hero who captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis fleeing the defeat of his nation.

  • The ghost town of Singapore (see our History of Allegan County, Michigan section).

  • The "Battle of Manila" cannon, dedicated by President McKinley.

  • Home to the Checker Cab Manufacturing Corporation & Upton Machine Company, later renamed Whirlpool Corporation, original home of the Gibson Guitar Company.

And many other interesting tidbits!

Southwest Michigan's firsts, some contested by other locales, include:

  • The first airplane flight.

  • The first automobile.

  • The first radio broadcast of a professional boxing match.

  • The first newspaper published between Detroit & Chicago.

  • The first state to have a border-to-border interstate freeway.

And many other nifty firsts!

Southwest Michigan and the cities therein have been referred-to in numerous ways, and for a variety of reasons, through the years:

  • United States' largest paper-producer.

  • Nation's smallest city.

  • World's largest celery-producer.

  • World's peppermint supplier.

  • World's largest outdoor fruit market.

  • World's Magic Capital.