By May of 1852 there were advertisements in the newspaper, “500 men wanted to build the plank road 12 ½ miles from Kalamazoo north, 19 miles from Grand Rapids south, and one bridge across the Kalamazoo River.”
The road connected the two cities in 1854, and the trip could be made in one day. Eventually Hwy 131 would follow the same route starting down South Division through Wayland, Shelby, and Plainwell to Kalamazoo.
The plank road and its toll stations were a profitable enterprise, and gave Grand Rapids access to additional farmers and new markets. Suddenly everything changed in 1870 when the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad opened. The old oak and pine planks were worn and warped; the rails were fast and smooth.
https://www.kpl.gov/local-history/kalamazoo-history/transportation/plank-roads/
Martin Michigan, which was named for President Martin Van Buren, had its beginning in 1836 when Mumford Eldred purchased forty acres of land and built his cabin in the township. Martin became part of the transportation link between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo in 1855 when a plank road was completed between the two cities.
The first settler in Plainwell was Henry Wellever, who was attracted to the area because of the construction of a new plank road.
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 that 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.
https://www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2019-04-11/kalamazoo-plank-road-was-a-boon-to-travelers-but-a-bumpy-ride-for-investors
In 1944 five-thousand POW’s (German and Italian soldiers taken prisoner during World War II) were sent to Michigan, 250 to Allegan County, to assist farmers during the 1944 harvest as most of the men were away fighting the war in Europe and in the Pacific. They were held at Camp Lakewood, which was a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp built in 1936.
a plank roadway that stretched from Saginaw to Flint began in 1851
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/2010/04/saginaw_crews_unearth_more_his.html
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