Bloomingdale, Michigan - 49026

Photos courtesy of: Ken Huisjen
 

Bloomingdale is located in northeastern Van Buren County, at the junction of Co. Roads 665 and 388. This is a quiet, picturesque, rural community nestled among the County’s back-roads. It is situated on the Kal-Haven Trail, a paved pathway stretching from Kalamazoo to South Haven, part of Michigan’s Rails-to-Trails State Park system.

The town’s old-fashioned design includes a city park as the main downtown square, with surrounding stores and businesses accross the streets.

Railroad buffs will want to travel here to see the well-preserved depot, (right on the Trail), complete with restored semaphore-a real beauty! Next door is a red caboose which adds quite a sparkle to the architecture.

Bloomingdale was settled in the mid 1850’s by Davis Haven and Henry Killefer, who move here from Ohio. It was given the name by Haven because he observed the area to be a blooming valley.

The town took hold in 1870 when the Michigan Central Railroad extended it line through here and built the depot. It was incorporated as a village in 1881.