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Plainwell, Michigan

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Plainwell City. It lies in ZIP code area 49080. The Survey maps it on the Otsego quadrangle. 3,788 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 728 feet above sea level.

Plainwell within Allegan County

On record in Plainwell

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

Plainwell fell from 3,804 to 3,788 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20103,804
20203,788-16 (-0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

1,188 words on this township

History of Allegan and Barry Counties Michigan 1880, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Plainwell City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The village of Plainwell, an incorporated municipality of about 1650 inhabitants, is pleasantly situated on both banks of the Kalamazoo River. It is also a station of importance on the lines of the Grand Rapids and Indiana and the Kalamazoo division of the Lake-Shore and Michigan Southern Railroads, which roads here cross each other. By rail it is distant 12 miles from Kalamazoo, 36 miles from Grand Rapids, and 13 miles from Allegan, the countyseat.

Passage source: History of Allegan and Barry Counties Michigan 1880, published 1880.

Plainwell is a village of comparatively recent origin and growth, yet, lying in the midst of a district rich in agricultural resources, the seat of busy mills and manufactories, and the home of a thrifty, energetic people, it is deserving of more than mere mention in the history of Allegan County. Among the original owners of the lands within or near its present corporate limits were Norman Davis, Thomas J. Warner, Sylvester Sibley,t Lebbeus Sherwood, Thomas M. Warrant, Lucius Lindsley, Samuel Foster, Joseph D. Beers, Samuel Sherwood, Hull Sherwood, James Hanmer, and Sarah R. Hoskins,

Passage source: History of Allegan and Barry Counties Michigan 1880, published 1880.

John H. Lasher, the first shoemaker to settle here,.came in July, 1855. His recollections of people and matters at that time are as follows: William H. Woodhams was residing near the bridge. On the northeast corner of Bridge and Main Streets was Alfred S. Pierson's grocery-store, he residing in the same building. Hart Dunham's dwelling stood near the present post-office building, and hard by was the blacksmith-shop. Orson D. Dunham was postmaster and proprietor of the Plainwell House, and in the old log house, previously mentioned, lived Harry Munn, an Englishman. The old school-house stood near Corporation standing near the school-house. Abel Dunham's house was where Frederick Woodhams now resides, and a considerable distance west, on Allegan Street, was Hiram W. Anderson's log dwelling. The Lovelock. family also lived near the blacksmith-shop. Nathaniel Seeley was on the extreme west side, and in the vicinity of the village, on the northeast side of the river, were John Anderson, William Still, and Calvin Dunham. Lasher's first dwelling, which stands on the north side of Allegan Street, west of the race, was built in the fall of 1855.

Passage source: History of Allegan and Barry Counties Michigan 1880, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Plainwell City - it names this place 4 more 4 times.

Fires near this place

27 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Plainwell between 1993 and 2020, burning about 42 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Equipment and vehicle use11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Debris and open burning4
Natural2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
19 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesPLAINWELL DPS 0002076 - 2018
29 July 1996Debris and open burningunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 July 2020Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesOTSEGO FD 0443 - 2020
25 June 2003Equipment and vehicle use5.4 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 May 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesOSHTEMO TOWNSHIP FD 930 - 2020
23 May 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000072 - 2020
2 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000049 - 2018
9 April 2019Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesOTSEGO FD 243 - 2019

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Allegan County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Plainwell: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Cushman Bros Clay PitClayPast Producer
Allegan Co PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Smith PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Allegan County

Storms near this place

21 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plainwell in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 12 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2020HailPlainwell$500,000Very large hail to two inches in diameter was reported near Plainwell.
April 2008Tornado (EF1)Plainwell$150,000A National Weather Service storm survey determined that damage in the vicinity of 388 3rd Street in the southeast corner of Allegan county was caused by a tornado. The tornado was rated an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Damage Scale. The tornado touched down just southwest of the above address in Allegan county.||The tornado was on the ground for nearly five miles, and traveled to the northeast. It did significant damage to a horse barn, lifted a trailer adjacent to the barn, damaged gravel yard equipment, lofted a tank, and uprooted numerous large trees. Some trees were snapped off.||No one was injured. The damage was concentrated about four miles east of Plainwell and extended from the 300 block of 102nd Avenue to the northeast, crossing 106th Avenue in the 100 to 200 block section.
May 2000HailPlainwell$40,000no account filed
July 2014HailPlainwell$10,000A trained spotter measured golf ball sized hail near Allegan street in Cooper township.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$10,000Trees and power lines downed in Plainwell. Trees fell across the road on 11th Street and along 10th Street near the intersections with 107th and 112th Streets.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$5,000Two trees were blown down in Plainwell.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$5,000Several large maple trees had limbs of up to one foot in diameter blown down by thunderstorm wind gusts.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$2,500Trees and power lines downed in Doster, 5 miles northeast of Plainwell, near the Allegan-Barry County border.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$2,500Trees and power lines downed in the city of Plainwell.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$2,000There was isolated tree damage near Plainwell.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindPlainwell$1,000no account filed
April 2026Thunderstorm WindPlainwell-Several uprooted trees.
July 2014HailPlainwell-A trained spotter reported one inch diameter hail near Plainwell.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindPlainwell-Law enforcement reported that a tree and many power lines were blown down one mile north northeast of Plainwell.
July 2008HailPlainwell-A trained spotter reported seven eighths inch diameter hail.
September 2007HailPlainwell-A trained spotter reported dime to penny size hail .
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainwell-Amateur radio operators estimated wind gusts to 60 mph 3 miles west of Plainwell, in Otsego Township, at 12:40 am EDT, Friday, June 26th.
July 1998Flash FloodPlainwell-A trained spotter reported street flooding in the city of Plainwell, where 2.71 inches of rain had fallen in less than 2 hours. No injuries or property damage was reported.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainwell-A trained spotter reported numerous trees downed near the U.S. Highway 131 and Michigan Highway 89 interchange. A damage estimate was not available.
October 2007HailPlainwell-no account filed
January 1996Thunderstorm WindPlainwell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Allegan County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Otsego2.9 miles17
Monteith Station5.7 miles9
Neeley6.5 miles9
Hooper6.7 miles9
Martin6.7 miles9
Watson7.3 miles9
East Martin8.3 miles9
Shelbyville10.7 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on PlainwellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2273620The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 635077. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.