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Allegan County Michigan was formally established in 1835 and is situated on the shore of Lake Michigan to the west and between the cities of Grand Rapids to the North and Kalamazoo to the South. Allegan County is one of the largest counties (in land mass) in lower Michigan, consisting of 829 square miles and 24 townships. The county is still mostly rural in nature, and still maintains an agriculture and tourist based economy, however trends are toward more light industry and technology which has translated into Allegan County being in one of the fastest growing regions of the state. In the 1990 census the population of the county was set at 90,509 and has been rapidly increasing ever since, and now is in excess of 100,000. The Sheriff's Office is responsible for service and protection of the residents of and visitors to our county along with the operation of a 173 bed jail facility. Currently the Sheriff's Office consists of 115 members in the fields of Corrections and Law Enforcement. Some of the operations within the Sheriff's Office are as follows: Road Patrol, Detective Bureau, Youth Services (including DARE), K-9, Traffic Enforcement, Tactical Team, Dive Rescue, Marine Patrol, and Corrections, plus a Community Service program for non violent first time offenders. In addition the Sheriff's Office utilizes the services of both Reserve and Mounted units to provide support to the Sheriff's Mission .
Allegan County was named by Michigan statesman/historian Henry Schoolcraft for the Alleghen Indian tribe which inhabited the area prior to its settlement. As early as the 1820's, this area was known for its agricultural potential and water resources. By the mid 1800's, steamboats were traveling the Kalamazoo River from Saugatuck to Allegan , transporting lumber and farm crops to Lake Michigan for shipping. The approximate 25 miles of coastline along Lake Michigan also became a major attraction, with resorts springing up to service heavy tourist traffic from Chicago and Michigan . Allegan is located in central Allegan County , at the junctions of M-40, M-89 and M-118. It functions as the county seat and is the largest city in the county. Situated on scenic Lake Allegan , (created by a dam on the Kalamazoo River ), this town hosts a diversity of small business and manufacturing companies, ranging from heating equipment to pharmaceutical products. Allegan's historic downtown includes a variety of small shops, stores and restaurants contained in an elegant Victorian setting. The waterfront features a winding boardwalk and park, with a great view of the old iron girder bridge. Allegan was named after the Alleghen Indian tribe in 1837 by Michigan statesman and historian, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. It was formed around 1833 by George Ketchum, Steven Vickery and Anthony Cooley, investors from the Kalamazoo and Marshall areas, who together purchased the land (which is now the downtown area) from the government. It was organized officially as a village in 1838 and incorporated as a city in 1907. County Seat: Allegan Origin of Name: The Native American tribe of "Allegawi" or "Allegans" believed by some to have been identical with the mound builders Set Off: 1831 Organized: 1835 Population in 1990: 90,509 Allegan is located on both sides of the Kalamazoo River at one of the most picturesque spots in Michigan . Built on the site of an Indian village, "Allegan" is an Indian word In 1833, Elisha Ely from Rochester , New York became the first Anglo-American to live in what is now Allegan, building a brush and bark shanty near the banks of the Kalamazoo River . Ely quickly recognized the potential of the site, which included a navigable river route to Lake Michigan, five overland Indian trails leading to the site, and water power that could be generated from the rapids at a bend in the river. Ely sent a message to Rochester urging "send settlers." Encouraged by Ely's report, out-of-town investors Samuel Hubbard, Charles C. Trowbridge, Pliny Cutler, Edward Monroe, and Alexander Ely (Elisha's son) purchased land and established the Allegan Company in 1834 to develop the town. Alexander Ely's partners soon purchased his interest and another twenty thousand acres with the aim of establishing a manufacturing and shipping hub. They formed the Boston Company to work with the Allegan Company in developing their holdings. In 1835 Allegan became the county seat for Allegan County , helping to ensure the town's future growth. In the following year the great land rush to western Michigan boosted Allegan's population to more than five hundred people. In 1838, the village of Allegan was officially incorporated. In the decades leading up to the Civil War, industry flourished in Allegan, using water power to transform white pine and hardwoods from the surrounding forest into lumber and a variety of wood products. Shipbuilding was a leading industry in the town, accompanied by numerous sawmills plus manufacturers of barrels, doors, window sashes, farm implements, bowls, pails, and furniture. Agriculture was important as well, and the Allegan Agricultural Society was formed in 1853. The Civil War ushered in Allegan's period of greatest growth. The population of the entire township was 992 in 1860; in 1870 the population of the village alone was 2,374. The coming of the railroads was an important factor in this growth, with the first of three railroad lines reaching Allegan on Thanksgiving Day in 1868. In the 1870s, Allegan's growth slowed as the forests were logged over and the lumber industry declined. An 1884 fire that destroyed most of the business district was another setback. But stores were quickly rebuilt, and despite the decline of the lumber industry, furniture and woodenware companies continued to prosper. Notable new businesses included L. Perrigo (1887), today one of the country's largest pharmaceutical companies, and Cook, Baker & Company (1890; later Baker Furniture). Meanwhile, new technology transformed people's lives as the telegraph came to Allegan in the 1870s followed by the telephone and electricity in the 1880s. After the U.S. economy recovered from the panic of 1893, Allegan entered a new period of industrial expansion. The number of factories in the horseshoe bend industrial district grew from twenty-six in 1904 to fifty-nine in 1917, and the workforce more than doubled. The Imperial Carving Company was established in 1912; Allegan Mirror and Frame Company in 1913; and Blood Brothers Machine Company, manufacturers of automotive universal joints, moved to Allegan from Kalamazoo in 1915. In 1908 Allegan's population was approaching three thousand and the village was reincorporated as a city. Allegan=s importance as a manufacturing center and county seat was reflected in handsome public buildings, including a new county sheriff=s residence and jail (1906); a Carnegie Library (1914); and the Griswold Memorial Auditorium (1929). In 1930 Allegan was home to four thousand people.
Today, Allegan continues its tradition of progress while retaining its rich nineteenth century heritage.
Allegan County Websites and Locations of Interest http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/michinfo/michfaq/counties.html http://www.historicallegan.org/h-history.html http://www.lib.cmich.edu/clarke/lhballegan.htm http://www.multimag.com/city/mi/allegan/ http://multimag.com/county/mi/allegan/ http://www.allegancounty.org/Sheriff/history.htm
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meaning " Lake of the Algonquins." Archaeological evidence shows that the Kalamazoo River Valley attracted people who lived by hunting and gathering during the Late Woodland period (A.D. 600 to A.D. 1650). The Ottawa were the dominant Indian tribe in the Allegan area when Anglo-American settlers arrived. 
