Jonathan Olin Round built the first log cabin in the area known as Hopkinsburg in 1837, and his family joined him in 1838 as other settlers soon followed. They settled there because of the good farmland and the creek flowing through the area, which provided water power for businesses such as the flour mill and saw mill. It is said that Hopkins was named after Round’s young son, Oziel Hopkins Round, the first settler to die in the territory, after nine men placed their chosen names on slips of paper in a hat and the name Hopkins was drawn. About thirty years after Jonathan settled there, the Kalamazoo branch of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad passed through the area known today as Hopkins. Industry and trade then came to the area, Hopkinsburg dwindled, and the new Hopkins became a booming village with leading businesses including a hotel, sawmill, broom handle factory, three general stores, a harness shop, a tin shop, blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, millinery stores, and a market. Later came the creamery, the Bost Factory, the Hoop Shop Factory, and the Shoe Factory. Hopkins was struck by several fires, including the Creamery explosion in 1919, the business district fire in 1920, and the hotel fire in 1923, and it also endured several floods, the latest in 1997.