Best Web Design in Coloma, MI (2026)

Web Design for Coloma, Michigan

Coloma is a rural city of roughly 1,500 people in Berrien County, planted squarely in Michigan's Fruit Belt where Lake Michigan's climate ripens peaches, grapes, and apples. Once known as 'Shingle Diggins' and then 'Dickerville,' it took the name Coloma from the California gold-rush town before booming as the gateway to the Paw Paw Lake resort era. Its annual Glad-Peach Festival still celebrates the gladiolus flowers and peaches that made the area famous.

AppWT serves Coloma and the surrounding Michigan area from Livonia, Michigan.

About Coloma

History. Settled by English speakers in the mid-1800s and first called 'Shingle Diggins' after the town's wooden shingle operation. Renamed 'Dickerville' because travelers stopping between Paw Paw and St. Joseph would 'dicker' over prices with shopkeepers. Took the name Coloma, inspired by Coloma, California, the birthplace of the 1848 Gold Rush; the word is also linked to a Spanish sense of 'calm' or 'peaceful.' Incorporated as a village in 1893 and as a city in 1941. The Coloma Interurban Station was built in 1910 to serve the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph Railway and Light Company electric line that carried fruit and Chicago vacationers. City population peaked at 1,814 in 1970 and was 1,465 at the 2020 census.

Local economy. Sits in Michigan's Fruit Belt, an agricultural zone moderated by Lake Michigan, producing peaches, grapes, and apples. Falls within the Lake Michigan Shore American Viticultural Area, the state's oldest modern commercial grape-growing region, with wineries such as Contessa Wine Cellars, Filkins Vineyards, and Moonrise. Jollay Orchards has operated in the area for more than 160 years. Historically a fruit-shipping and resort-tourism hub, with Interstate 94 now running through the community for regional access.

Culture and community. The Glad-Peach Festival, held each summer (2026 dates July 31 and August 1), began around 1947-48 celebrating local gladiolus flowers and later grew to honor the peach crop; it features a parade, carnival, run/walk, live music, and fireworks. During the Paw Paw Lake resort era, the Crystal Palace Ballroom hosted big-band leaders including Bob Crosby, Lawrence Welk, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman before crowds of up to 2,500 dancers. The Loma Theatre has operated in town since 1964. Fruit and wine culture anchors community identity through orchards, u-pick farms, and Lake Michigan Shore wineries.

What makes Coloma distinct. The town changed its name twice, from 'Shingle Diggins' to 'Dickerville' to 'Coloma,' the last borrowed from a California gold-rush town. At its peak Paw Paw Lake pulled roughly 40,000 summer visitors and hosted nationally known big-band acts, an outsized draw for a small rural community. The abandoned Deer Forest park left behind weathered fairytale figures and storybook structures that draw urban-explorer and roadside-attraction fans. The 'Glad' in the Glad-Peach Festival refers to gladiolus flowers, not an adjective, reflecting the area's flower-growing heritage alongside its orchards.

Coloma Landmarks and Local Life

• Deer Forest / Storybook Lane - a fairytale-themed animal park conceived in 1949 that ran until 2015, once one of the region's major attractions with a petting zoo, storybook houses, and an Old West saloon replica
• Paw Paw Lake - an eleven-mile-shoreline resort lake that once drew around 40,000 summer visitors from Chicago and Michigan
• The 1910 Coloma Interurban Station.
• The Loma Theatre.
• North Berrien Historical Museum and the nearby Sarett Nature Center.
• Randall Park and its Norma Jean Somers Splash Pad.

What AppWT Web & AI Solutions Builds for Coloma Businesses

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