A portion of M-37 follows the route of the Muskegon, Grand Traverse and Northport State Road, which was later renamed the Newaygo and Northport State Road. The road was authorized by the state legislature in 1857, and it was intended to connect the settlements in Muskegon and Newaygo counties, which at the time were "most northerly on the south side of the 'Big Woods'", with the growing settlements around the Grand Traverse Bay. Construction progressed slowly and was only opened through Wexford County in 1863. and the bridge over the Manistee River in 1864 at what is now Sherman.