When Allegan County was organized in 1835, the only road from the interior to Lake Michigan followed an Indian trail along the Kalamazoo River. In 1838 Ralph Mann of Connecticut supervised improvements at the short-lived town of Richmond, and he and two men widened the trail eight miles from Richmond toward Allegan. Beginning in the 1840s, stagecoaches traveled the road, which was used by settlers, traders, and trappers. When river conditions prohibited boat travel, the Allegan Road provided an important link between the county seat and the lake.