This site on Territorial Road was a gift of Seeley Neal (1778-1862) from 640 acres he acquired from the government in 1831. A veteran of the War of 1812, Neal built the first log house in the township, and his was the first family to settle in the community he later named Marengo. He also built a sawmill on the Kalamazoo River and served on the commission that helped locate and survey Territorial Road.