New Richmond is an unincorporated community within the township at 42°38′52″N 86°06′20″W / 42.64778°N 86.10556°W / 42.64778; -86.10556 near where Old Allegan Road and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway cross the Kalamazoo River.

[5] In 1836, three eastern investors, led by John Allen of Ann Arbor, arranged to found a city here.

Some land was cleared, a general store and some houses were built, and in November 1837, a post office opened named "Richmond".

However, the office closed in October 1839, after Allen's business venture failed in 1838 due to financial depression following the Panic of 1837.

Ralph R. Mann, who had been hired by Allen to direct improvements at Richmond, in 1844 moved to a location to the south of the first site and built a water-powered sawmill on the river.

It was for a while a station on the Chicago and West Michigan Railway, but was mostly abandoned in 1874 after the destruction of the mill's dam and the local tavern burned down.

With the coming of the railroad, H. F. Marsh laid out a new village of Richmond near the older site, which prospered and after a time supplanted Manlius.