Fennville, Michigan

Fennville, Michigan
City
Main Street in Fennville during Goose Festival
Old grain silos
Kingsley House
Location of Fennville, Michigan
Location of Fennville, Michigan
Coordinates: 42°35′40.98″N 86°6′18.75″W / 42.5947167°N 86.1052083°W / 42.5947167; -86.1052083
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountyAllegan
Area
 • Total1.10 sq mi (2.85 km2)
 • Land1.09 sq mi (2.83 km2)
 • Water0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation
666 ft (203 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total1,745
 • Density1,599.45/sq mi (617.30/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
49408
Area code269
FIPS code26-27740
GNIS feature ID1626274
Websitewww.fennville.gov

Fennville is a city in Allegan County, Michigan, United States. In 2020, the city had 1,745 people living in it.

History

1800s

Map of Fennville in 1899

The place where Fennville is now was first a small town at a crossing of two wood roads. The first road was built by Harrison Hutchins and James McCormick in 1837. Elam Atwater Fenn from the state of New York entered the nearby place of Manlius in 1851. The story of how Fennville got its name is that Fenn built a sawmill nearby in 1860. In the 1860s, Fennville had a swamp in the middle of the town and buildings were located on higher ground on the outside. A fire that may have been from the Great Chicago Fire or the Great Michigan Fire destroyed the town in 1871.

After the town was rebuilt, the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad built a train station. The railroad named the town Fennville with help of Fennville. At the end of the 1800s, farmers drained the swamp in the middle of Fennville. In 1889, Fennville was officially made a village.

1900s

The United States Post Office in Fennville

In the beginning of the 1920s, the train station became busy with transporting farm products like fruit and mint. The town faced trouble with the economy in the 1930s during the Great Depression like other places at the time.

The city began to grow in the 1950s and 1960s after the Interstate Highway System was built. Fennville was officially made a city in 1961. The Hispanic community also started to grow as the city became larger and is still growing today.

The United States Department of the Treasury named Fennville an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1981. After Fennville was named an AVA, wine from the city became popular and wineries in Fennville started to win awards.

In October 1984, Fennville made the Goose Festival to get Amtrak to reopen a train station that had closed. The festival is held every year in October and is named after the hundreds of thousands of geese that rest in nearby fields before they fly south for the winter.

2000s

In the 2010s, the city was given money by the state of Michigan and made the experience for walking in the city better in the city center.

Education

Fennville Middle School and High School

The Fennville Public Schools district includes:

The Discovery Elementary School, a chartered public school academy located in Fennville, closed at the end of the 2009 school year.

References

  1. ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fennville, Michigan
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Allegan County Heritage Trail Tour". www.allegancounty.org. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  5. ↑ "Western County 1837 Plat Map". fennville.memorieshop.com. Retrieved 2020-04-15.[permanent dead link]
  6. ↑ Hutchins, Henry Hudson (1977). Recollections of the Pioneers of Western Allegan County. COMMERCIAL RECORD-RESORTER. p. 40. Archived from the original on 2021-06-12. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  7. ↑ New Richmond History, Allegan County Parks Commission, c. 2010
  8. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 125.
  9. 1 2 Lake, D. J. "Atlas of Allegan County Michigan / from actual surveys by and under the direction of D. J. Lake ; assisted by B. N. Griffing... [et al.]". Michigan County Histories. C. O. Titus. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  10. ↑ Lane, Kit (1982). Fennville The Early Years. Fennville, MI: The Fennville Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-06-12. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  11. 1 2 3 "About the City". City of Fennville. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Hayden, Jim. "5 things you should know about Fennville, Michigan". The Holland Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  13. 1 2 Cappo, Matt (2021-06-29). "Taste your way through Fennville". Michigan Blue Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  14. ↑ Staff, Editorial (2024-10-09). "40th Annual Fennville Goose Festival this weekend". Wilcox Newspapers. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  15. ↑ Archived 2017-02-05 at the Wayback Machine Fennville Public Schools
  16. ↑ Discovery Elementary Archived 2009-04-28 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 03 May 2009
  17. ↑ "Discovery School Announces Closing at End of School Year" Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 03 May 2009