Coloma started out with the name Shingle Diggins because of the harvest of the trees for shingles. Job Davis of Cass County was the first white man in this area of whom there is any record. In 1832 he purchased 150 acres of land in section 21, intending to get out shingles, floating them down the Paw Paw River to the St Joseph market.

The first year his wife died and Davis sold out to Griffin, Hoyt and Hatch of St Joseph. Because of various advertisements and word of mouth, many others started to settle in the area. Many families in the settlement now had children and they applied to the County Seat at Berrien Springs for aid in supporting a school, which was denied. Undaunted, they cleared some land and erected a log cabin school. They hired Mary Young, daughter of one of the shingle makers, as teacher.

By 1838, the timber for making shingles was exhausted and shingle makers left for other areas. Shingle Diggins was located a little north of Coloma and east along the river toward Watervliet. So, the Shingle Diggins era ended about this time. Settlers moved on or sought a new location across the river. It was Stephen R Gilson who built the first house in what is now Coloma, high on the bank this side of the river.

The town settlement started to really grow as mills, tanneries and stores were being built. Because money was scarce, farm produce and furs were used as a medium of exchange for 'store goods'. Fully 90 percent of the first day's business was done by 'dickering' so the idea was born that Dickerville would be an appropriate name for the new town. Years went by and the town continued to grow as more buildings were built and others expanded.

In 1850, the California gold rush was under way, and Stephen R Gilson, his son Warren, in company with several others from nearby communities, fitted out a team and wagon and, leaving the rest of the family in Dickerville, went off for the land of gold. During his search for gold, he stayed in the village of Coloma, California. Coloma is also the name of a fragrant and beautiful flower which grows on the Pacific slopes. He returned to Dickerville to stay about 1855.

It was about this same time when the United States Government was seeking to establish mail service. Gilson and some others did not feel that Dickerville was a very dignified name for the growing community, so Gilson suggested the name of Coloma and it was accepted.

The location of Coloma has changed three times. St Joseph Street, which is the present Red Arrow Highway was the main street during the Dickerville era, but this ended with the coming of the railroad in 1871. While the location of the tracks was still in question, some land promoters saw an opportunity for speculation and in 1869, purchased a tract of land in the north and west end of the settlement, platted it, and offered the right of way to the Railroad Line, thus securing the location of the depot on their land. The train finally came through in 1871 to much cheering. Things boomed in New Coloma near the Railroad Station, then growth in the new town area ceased, as the neighborhood people returned their patronage to the old town. Many stores were torn down or moved to locations along Paw Paw Street, and Coloma had a new and present location of today. From Washington Street to St Joseph Street became the business thoroughfare.