On April 22, 1833, the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad received a charter from the Legislature of the Territory of Michigan and was built and operating a year before Michigan became a state. It was intended to connect Toledo, then called Port Lawrence and considered to be in Michigan, with the Kalamazoo River. By November 2, 1836, cars drawn by two horses hitched tandem and changed every 4 miles were making regular trips from Port Lawrence to Adrian. Early in July 1837, the Adrian No. 1, a steam locomotive, began the run, making this the first railroad and the first steam locomotive west of the Alleghany Mountains.
