Editing Wayland, Michigan (section)

==History==

About two hundred years ago, the area now known as Wayland, Michigan was inhabited by the [[Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan|Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band]] of the [[Pottawatomi]], a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe in Michigan. The tribe lived in settled villages, hunted game, and farmed and harvested corn and wild rice, in addition to making maple sugar tree sap. The tribe is federally recognized and is headquartered in nearby [[Wayland Township, Michigan|Wayland Township]]. It owns the Gun Lake Casino, opened in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/01/gun_lake_casino_to_open.html|title=Gun Lake Casino in Wayland to open February 11|work=MLive.com}}</ref>
 
The area began changing under pressure of European-American development. By 1826 the land had been surveyed for settlement in United States style. Colonel Isaac Barnes, attracted by the extensive forests of pine and hardwoods, purchased a tract of land along the [[Rabbit River (Michigan)|Rabbit River]] and began operating a mill producing lumber and wooden shingles, giving the area its first name, Lumberton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.downtownwayland.com/about/history-of-wayland/|title=History Of Wayland|work=Downtown Wayland}}</ref>

In 1837, the Barnes family arrived and began clearing the land for farming, and by the 1840s, several more families had settled in the area. This growth brought enough children to the area to justify building the first American-style school in 1844. 
 
In 1855 a road was built to connect the two larger towns of [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]] and [[Kalamazoo, Michigan|Kalamazoo]], running directly through Chamber's Corners, the main intersection in the city. This area is now known by that name. This busy road led to increased commerce, and business in the form of dairy farms and factories, which led to further growth over time.

The area was officially named Wayland in 1868 after a town in [[New York (state)|New York]], as many migrants had come from that state.