The first settlers to come to what is now known as Plymouth, Michigan, were Benjamin and William Starkweather. Farmers from Preston, Connecticut, they purchased 240 acres of land from the United States government on March 11, 1825, for $1.25 per acre.

George Starkweather was the first child born in Plymouth.  He was hugely influential in the development.  He made North Village (known today as Old Village) the center of Plymouth. Plymouths’s downtown used to be called Podunk. The north was known as Joppa. At the time (1870’s), it was the only place in Michigan where railroad tracks went in all four directions. Blanche, Karmada, Davis, Rose and Amelia are all Plymouth streets named after Starkweather family members.

When John Kellogg arrived in Plymouth in 1832 from New York State, he built the Plymouth House on the corner of Ann Arbor Trail and Main Street, facing the Village Green, now known as Kellogg Park.

Founded in 1982, Plymouth’s Ice Festival is the largest and oldest ice festival in North America.  It traditionally takes place in January… this year it runs February 12th-14th.  Sculptures will not be up in Kellogg Park, but sculptures will be present in front of different businesses throughout Plymouth.

Plymouth’s Art in the Park is Michigan’s second largest art fair.  Founded in 1980 a mother and daughter team, Diane Quinn and Raychel Rork, the yearly event traditionally draws over 450 artists and around 300,000 visitors.