Fennville

History

The place where Fennville is now located was originally a small settlement at a crossing of two wood roads. The first road was built by Harrison Hutchins and James McCormick in 1837. Elam Atwater Fenn from the state of New York entered the nearby place of Manlius in 1851. The story of how Fennville received its name is that Fenn built a sawmill nearby in 1860. This led to people referring to the settlement as "Fenn's Mill" which became the name associated with the post office there. Some early documents pluralized "Mill" to render "Fenn's Mills. In the 1860s, Fennville had a swamp in the middle of the town and buildings were located on higher ground on the perimeter. The railroad named the town Fennville with help of citizens in the town. The landmark Stevens Hotel was built downtown in 1910. In the beginning of the 1920s, the train station became busy with transporting farm products like fruit and mint. The village began to grow in the 1950s and 1960s following the construction of the nearby Interstate 196 of the then recently-established Interstate Highway System. The United States Department of the Treasury named Fennville an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1981. After Fennville was named an AVA, wine from the city became popular and Fennville wineries were recognized with awards. In 2025, Fennville began the construction of City Square Park, a $1 million project which will include an amphitheater, an outdoor fireplace and splash pad fountains. In June 2025, the Conagra Brands food facility, which had been producing food goods for nearly a century, was closed and 85 workers lost their jobs. In late 2025, a groundbreaking occurred for the Wine Trail Inn, located in the former Stevens Hotel building.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity