Allegan County Heritage Trail
Tour
The Allegan County Tourist Council has developed a self-guided
tour so that people can discover and have adventures into the
history, sights and sounds of Allegan County. This tour will allow people to
see historic villages and towns as well as bountiful farmlands and
orchards which were and still are the backbone of this rural
county. More
information on the Heritage Trail Tour can be found at
www.allegancounty.org/heritagetrail/. This tour has numerous stops, but
it is not necessary to do them in order, they can be completed in
any order.
We plan to place caches at each historic stop along this
tour. Our goal with
this series is to have fun, but also to enjoy the beautiful sites
of Allegan County. We
also hope that we can bring some history of the area to people who
are interested. Now
let’s get on with our journey.
Welcome to Plainwell
– Via the Old Plank Road
The first settler in Plainwell was Henry Wellever, who was
attracted to the area because of the construction of new plank
road. Most of the
towns on this tour have in common the fact that their original
reason for existing was location, location, location. . .whether on
the river, a railroad stop, or, in the case of Plainwell, at an
important intersection of the new road. Easy access to transportation was
critical to a town’s development.
In the early 1850s, the old rutted (and when it rained, muddy)
dirt road between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, and between here and
Allegan, was replaced by a new plank road. The sawn planks were made out of
oak or walnut and were 8’ long and 2”
thick. This pioneer
version of a paved highway was a huge improvement. . .having a
relatively smooth surface that would not be impacted much by the
weather.
When the plank road was completed in 1854, the result was a
considerable amount of traffic and the area, simply referred to as
“The Junction” at the time, started to grow into a
town. The town was
surveyed and platted in April 1863 and was given the name
Plainwell. The plank
road remained in operation until the early 1900’s, when the
current paved 10th Street between Wayland and Plainwell,
which uses the same roadbed, replaced it.
Without a doubt, there is a lot to see and do in
Plainwell, and it’s a good place to stop for lunch or
dinner. So stop and
have a look around.
You are surrounded by history here.
You are looking for a small container. When rehiding,
please make sure that it is hidden from muggles. Have
Fun!
Park hours are from dawn to 10 pm. No night caching.
The FTF prize is a
gold dollar.