Allegan County (pop. 111,408) is south of Ottawa County, along Lake Michigan. “Allegan” was a word created by Henry Schoolcraft in the 19th century to sound like an actual Native American word.
Allegan County is traditionally agricultural, but its population has been growing because of its proximity to the urban areas of Grand Rapids to the northeast and Kalamazoo to the southeast.
The Allegan County Fair runs for nine days.
The county seat of Allegan County is the city of Allegan (pop. 4,998).
Downtown Allegan
The Second Street Bridge in Allegan dates from 1886.
Over the Kalamazoo River
The Regent Theatre in Allegan opened in 1919.
Still showing first-run movies
Saugatuck Dunes State Park has two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 14 miles of hiking trails.
Day use only
The city of Fennville (pop. 1,398) is the home of Crane’s Pie Pantry, well-known for its pies and its mascot – Betty the Stuffed Sleigh Dog.
The 50,000-acre Allegan State Game Area is a forest that is popular with campers, hunters, and cross-country skiers.
In Saugatuck (pop. 925), the Felt Mansion (1928) now hosts weddings and other special events.
Mr. Felt invented the first office processing machine.
A western Michigan legend refers to “melon heads” – small humanoids with bulbous heads who lived in the vicinity of the Felt Mansion.
There’s a movie.
Saugatuck has a hand-powered chain ferry that takes visitors from downtown to Oval Beach.
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What happens if a hand-powered chain ferry runs into any resistance? That sounds like a really cool thing though.