Allendale, Michigan
census designated place in Ottawa County, Michigan, United States
Allendale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 27,073 at the 2020 census. It is located within Allendale Charter Township, occupying approximately the northern two-thirds of the township, from the eastern boundary with the Grand River west along Pierce St., north along 75th Ave., then west along Lake Michigan Drive (M-45) to the western boundary of the township. It is a part of the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan combined statistical area, and is an exurb of Grand Rapids, due to its major commuter routes into the city (M-45 and I-96).
The CDP's ZIP code 49401 serves most of the township, as well as portions of Blendon Township to the south and Georgetown Township to the southeast.
Allendale is named for the township. The township was organized in 1849, state senator Pennoyer changed the name to Allendale, after Agnes Allen, the first person on the tax roll in the area and the widow of Hannibal Allen, who was the son of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen.
Allendale is home to the main campus of Grand Valley State University.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.4 km2), of which 23.2 square miles (60.1 km2) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) (3.78%) is water.
Geographic features
Grand River (Michigan)
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Allendale had a population of 27,073.
“Allendale, Michigan” enters the record as census designated place in Ottawa County, Michigan, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Allendale, Michigan and census can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Allendale, Michigan” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Allendale, Michigan and census provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q515596. VIAF identifies the subject as 236630983. The Library of Congress control number is n91056698. Authority coordinates are 42.972, -85.954. None of the 3 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1849.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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This entry incorporates text from “Allendale, Michigan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.