Town Site Evolution in Southwestern Michigan 1830-1869

Abstract

A study of original survey records of town plats in three southwestern Michigan counties shows that a wide range of town and town–square designs were in use. This is particularly impressive because so many of these towns were laid out in a very brief period in the mid–1830s. These plats demonstrate that the town planners' spatial vocabulary included a wide range of town square designs and show that a number of different terms were used for similar central public areas. While square–centered grids dominate, there were also other kinds of town plans including many efforts to incorporate water–driven mills into town plans and a series of linear town plats along the Michigan Road. While 1830 town designs are usually reflected in subsequent landscapes, there is an important exception to this: town squares where roads were envisioned as crossing the square proved impractical and were often altered at fairly early dates. In some cases, such as Cassopolis, it is possible to follow this process of town square alteration in some detail. After the coming of the railroad in 1848 new kinds of town design became popular and depot grounds frequently replaced public squares in original town plans. These findings suggest that the methods and goals of early town planners are as yet poorly understood and that those who originally platted a town may have had ideas which were at odds with those who came to occupy the town.