Discreet 24/7 Biohazard Remediation in Plainwell, MI

Plainwell is a city in Allegan County nicknamed "The Island City" because a millrace power canal dug across a bend in the Kalamazoo River in 1856 surrounds its downtown with water, turning the city center into an island.

The Kalamazoo River flows through the center of Plainwell, and the water power from the river and its millrace attracted the mills that built the town.

Plainwell was platted in 1863 and incorporated as a village on March 26, 1869, then adopted a new charter and became a city in 1934.

Before it was Plainwell, the settlement was called Plainfield and "the Junction," sitting at the crossroads of the old plank roads leading to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Allegan.

Paper making shaped Plainwell's history: the Michigan Paper Company, later known as the Plainwell Paper Company, was a defining local employer, and generations of Plainwell families worked at the paper mill.

The 2020 census counted 3,788 people in Plainwell living in 1,595 households, with a median resident age of 40.2 years.

According to the City of Plainwell's 2023 master plan, the city's population peaked at 4,057 residents in 1990.

Plainwell sits on M-89 just east of US-131, about 10 miles north of Kalamazoo and about 35 miles south of Grand Rapids; the four-lane US-131 was built west of town in the 1960s with an M-89 interchange tying Plainwell to both metro areas.

Plainwell covers about 2.06 square miles and is completely surrounded by Gun Plain Charter Township, except for a small portion west of US-131 bordering Otsego Township.

Students in Plainwell are served by Plainwell Community Schools, which runs two high schools - Plainwell High School and Renaissance High School, an alternative education school - plus Plainwell Middle School and the Cooper, Gilkey, and Starr elementary schools.