Built in 1870. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
One of 33 National Register listings published here for Allegan County · listed in 1991 · category: Structure · built in 1870.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
The chapter on Plainwell City in History of Allegan and Barry Counties Michigan 1880, published 1880 names Plainwell. This is what it says, 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.
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 - 1,188 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of J. F. Eesley Milling Co. Flour Mill-Elevator between 1993 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. 1 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 use | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | PLAINWELL DPS 0002076 - 2018 |
| 2 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | OTSEGO FD 0443 - 2020 |
| 23 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | GUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000072 - 2020 |
| 2 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | GUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000049 - 2018 |
| 9 April 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | OTSEGO FD 243 - 2019 |
| 29 April 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | GUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000047 - 2018 |
| 19 April 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | GUN PLAIN CHARTER TWP FD 0000042 - 2018 |
| 31 March 1993 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of J. F. Eesley Milling Co. Flour Mill-Elevator: 2 producers, 2 past producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cushman Bros Clay Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Allegan Co Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| American Aggregates Corp. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Smith Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| W.Douglas Sand Exposure | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plainwell, the town this property stands in, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020 | Hail | Plainwell | $500,000 | Very large hail to two inches in diameter was reported near Plainwell. |
| April 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Plainwell | $150,000 | A 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 2000 | Hail | Plainwell | $40,000 | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Plainwell | $10,000 | A trained spotter measured golf ball sized hail near Allegan street in Cooper township. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $10,000 | Trees 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 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $5,000 | Two trees were blown down in Plainwell. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $5,000 | Several large maple trees had limbs of up to one foot in diameter blown down by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $2,500 | Trees and power lines downed in Doster, 5 miles northeast of Plainwell, near the Allegan-Barry County border. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $2,500 | Trees and power lines downed in the city of Plainwell. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $2,000 | There was isolated tree damage near Plainwell. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | - | Several uprooted trees. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Plainwell | - | A trained spotter reported one inch diameter hail near Plainwell. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | - | Law enforcement reported that a tree and many power lines were blown down one mile north northeast of Plainwell. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Plainwell | - | A trained spotter reported seven eighths inch diameter hail. |
| September 2007 | Hail | Plainwell | - | A trained spotter reported dime to penny size hail . |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | - | 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 1998 | Flash Flood | Plainwell | - | 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 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | - | 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 2007 | Hail | Plainwell | - | no account filed |
| January 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plainwell | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Island Historic District | 0.5 miles | 1991 |
 | Cherry DeLefebvre House | 0.6 miles | 1991 |
 | Michigan Paper Company Mill Historic District | 0.6 miles | 2011 |
 | West Bridge Street Historic District | 0.8 miles | 1991 |
 | James Noble Sherwood House | 1.0 miles | 1984 |
| Second Street-Gun River Bridge | 6.1 miles | 1999 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 91001547 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Allegan County | All 33 listed properties in this county. |
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