A first impression of Greater Kalamazoo is sure to encompass the city’s blend of heritage and unique style. From Kalamazoo Mall to the Air Zoo, Western Michigan University to Midlink Business Park, this city is embracing the new millennium while celebrating its rich past.
From snowboarding and ice boating during sparkling winters, to enjoying Michigan’s rare and delicate spring wildflowers, to windsurfing in summer, to viewing the region’s brilliant fall foliage, Kalamazoo offers four seasons of natural riches.
Here also newcomers find an exciting arts scene, varied festivals throughout the year, recreation opportunities for all ages and abilities, and an ethnic diversity that is expressed throughout the city’s culture, shops and restaurants. The city’s history spans more than 200 years; Kalamazoo retains many of the tangible reminders of this long history, and residents are privileged and proud to be its caretakers.
Kalamazoo began as a fur trading post in the late 1700s. In 1827, the Potawatomi Indians surrendered the surrounding land to the United States. The first permanent European settlement in the area was originally named the Village of Bronson by Titus Bronson, who recorded the original plat for the village in March 1831. Fellow settlers apparently disliked Bronson’s outspoken views on temperance, tobacco, dancing and gambling; in 1836, they successfully changed the village’s name to Kalamazoo. The new city grew, and prosperity followed. By the late 1800s, Kalamazoo was a stop on the original Territorial Railroad, which started in Detroit and ran to Lake Michigan.
Paper and cardboard mills and celery farming were two of the city’s earliest industries. First grown in Kalamazoo in the 1850s, celery was for many years the city’s trademark crop, earning it the nickname “Celery City.” Celery farm----ing efficiently utilized swamps and other land unsuitable for general farming. By 1872, several Dutch farmers were turn--ing Kalamazoo’s mucklands into celery fields. Local entrepreneurs even sold medicines and condiments made from celery. So important was the crop to the city’s history that a historical marker at Park Street and Crosstown Parkway details the vegetable’s history and importance to Kalamazoo and Michigan.
In later years, Checker taxicabs, Gibson guitars, Kalamazoo stoves, Shakespeare fishing rods and reels, and Roamer automobiles were all manufactured here. The Upjohn Pill Granule Company — now a part of Pfizer Inc., a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company — began here. Celery farming declined as paper production and other manufacturers became a larger part of the local economy, and after World War II, land devoted to celery steadily gave way to the cultivation of bedding plants. Once the Celery Capital of the Country, Kalamazoo is today the home of the largest bedding plant cooperative in the United States, supplying home gardeners and landscapers nationwide. The Celery Flats Interpretive Center in nearby Portage preserves the history and heritage of celery farming in the region.
Around the turn of the century, businesses and homes were being built all over the city, and many of these historic structures have been preserved. The Romanesque-style Kalamazoo Amtrak Station was built by Michigan Central Railroad in 1887 and features brick and red sandstone and a red tile roof. The Stuart Avenue, South Street and Vine areas are Historic Districts that showcase many lovely early 1900s homes. The city’s broad sweep of architectural styles includes Gothic, Italianate, Greek Revival, Sullivanesque and Queen Anne. Kalamazoo City Hall, built in 1931, is a beautiful example of Art Deco style. Frank Lloyd Wright built several of his Usonian-style homes in Parkwyn Village and other areas of Kalamazoo.
Today’s residents and industries build on a solid foundation, enjoying as their predecessors did the many benefits of Kalamazoo’s location. Kalamazoo County is located on the banks of the Kalamazoo River in the southwestern area of Michigan’s lower peninsula. It is well-served by major transportation routes, including Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 131 and state highways M-43 and M-96. Kalamazoo is a 2.5-hour drive or a 30-minute flight from Chicago and Detroit. Battle Creek, Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan are within an hour’s drive. Indianapolis, Cleveland and Milwaukee can be reached by highway in four hours, and Toronto is just a 6.5-hour drive away. Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport offers one-stop commercial passenger and air freight services to major international destinations. Amtrak provides service from Kalamazoo to Chicago, Detroit, Pontiac, Port Huron and Toronto. Greyhound and Indian Trails bus lines serve the area, and Metro Transit is the commuter transportation service for Kalamazoo, Portage and surrounding townships. Taxi, limousine, shuttle and rental car services are also available.
As the county seat, Kalamazoo is committed to “doing our best work today and every day to make Kalamazoo the best city it can be tomorrow.” Modern city amenities, programs and services like an active recycling program, a fiber optic network and a “SmartZone” to encourage technology-driven business development and job creation are just a few examples of Kalamazoo’s commitment to a prosperous future and an outstanding quality of life.
The Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce has produced this magazine to welcome you to a great city and a great way of life. Please feel free to contact us with questions about Kalamazoo, whether you are here as a visitor or as a new resident.
Kalamazoo Interesting Facts & Stats Sheet
• The City of Kalamazoo is home to 77,145 residents. Students at the area’s universities and colleges add more than 30,000 to the population during the school year.
• The City of Kalamazoo covers 24.7 square miles.
• The average age is 26.1 years.
• The median household income is $31,189.
• The City of Kalamazoo is very affordable, with a cost of living index of 94.54 (U.S. average is 100).
• Greater Kalamazoo is made up of 20 distinct neighborhoods, each with its own personality and style. The various architectural styles of these neighborhoods include historic, 20th-century residential and urban renewal.
• Bronson Park in Kalamazoo was the site of Abraham Lincoln’s only public speech in Michigan.
• Since 1963, Kalamazoo has had a sister-city relationship with Numazu, Japan, and since 1991, with Pushkin, Russia.
• In 2003, Kalamazoo was ranked among the top 12 midsize cities in the Midwest for entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur magazine).
• Kalamazoo has been named one of the top three best places to live for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired by the American Foundation for the Blind. The award recognizes cities that have developed solutions for facilitating the participation of blind or visually impaired people in community activities.
