Allegan County was named by Henry Schoolcraft, a noted student of the Indians. The county was set off in 1831 and organized in 1835. Settlement of the county seat, Allegan, was promoted in 1835 by eastern capitalists attracted by the site's sources of water power. For many years steamboats plied the Kalamazoo between here and Saugatuck. Extensive lumbering by the pioneers cleared the way for farm production, in which the county has been a leader.