In 1846, the Michigan-Central railroad reached Kalamazoo from Detroit. By 1850 this railroad extended to Chicago. Kalamazoo was thereafter a hub for travelers from neighboring rural areas seeking to travel to the two larger cities, as Kalamazoo is the halfway point between Chicago and Detroit.

The Kalamazoo and White Pigeon Railroad was active throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The railroad extended from Kalamazoo into Constantine along modern-day US-131. Between 1852 and 1867, multiple companies laid tracks throughout White Pigeon, Constantine, Three Rivers, and Schoolcraft, and in 1867 the Kalamazoo and Schoolcraft Company connected this railroad to Kalamazoo. In 1869, two separate companies connected the Kalamazoo-White Pigeon railroad to Grand Rapids. The Kalamazoo and White Pigeon Railroad was significant following the Civil War as the railroad companies Michigan Central, Lake Shore, and Michigan Southern competed to connect feeder lines to their railroads. The Kalamazoo-White Pigeon Railroad was connected to the Lake Shore Railroad as a feeder line to Grand Rapids in late 1869.

In 1915, the Kalamazoo and White Pigeon Railroad merged into the New York Central Railroad.