He chose the site for its location on the Kalamazoo River and its proximity to the main road between Detroit and Chicago.

The city was settled over the next decade by well-educated migrants from the northeastern United States, who brought with them a sense of building architecture and town planning from the region.

The city was laid out in a rectilinear grid, and the early buildings were typically Greek Revival, some in a sophisticated high style.

During this period, construction continued apace, with high-quality but often conservative versions of the popular Italianate and Gothic Revival styles.

The effect of this growth is that there is now a high quality cross-section of architectural styles of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including residential, civic, commercial, and religious buildings.