Plymouth's Beginning
When our nation was young and before Michigan became a state, a tract of land was registered as follows: "The United States of America, by John Quincy Adams, President and Commissioner of the General Land Office to Luther Lincoln, Jr.", dated April 2, 1825. Plymouth was settled in 1825, was incorporated in 1867, and became a city on May 20, 1932.
It was George Starkweather, the first child born to settlers in present Plymouth Township, who in 1871 recognized the importance of a railroad to a community and decided that the North Village of Plymouth would become the new center of town. He built a new store on the corner of Liberty and Starkweather and opened a road through his property for other new stores to locate. This area is presently known as "Old Village" or "Lowertown."
Railroads & Toll Roads
The Plymouth Railroad Station was built in 1871 by the Pere Marquette Railroad. The only place in Michigan where railroad tracks go in all four directions, bringing goods and services from points east and west, and north and south through the Plymouth Community. Local residents may become frustrated when a breakdown on the train causes some of our railroad crossings to be blocked and traffic is at a standstill in the community.
Before the coming of the railroad, Plymouth was serviced by a toll road known as "Plymouth Plank Road" from 1850 to 1872. Planks were on the right side only for heavy-laden wagons going to market. Wagons coming back to Plymouth empty were to use the dirt side and there was no toll for the homeward trip.
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