Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States

History | Economic history | Geography | Economy | Breweries | Distilleries | Flavorings | Manufacturing | Life sciences | Industrial design | Research and economic development | Businesses | Education

🇺🇸 Kalamazoo is a city in the south-west region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area. Kalamazoo is equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, being about 140 miles (230 km) away from both.

One of Kalamazoo's most notable features is the Kalamazoo Mall, an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall. The city created the mall in 1959 by closing part of Burdick Street to auto traffic, although two of the mall's four blocks have been reopened to auto traffic since 1999. Kalamazoo is home to Western Michigan University, a large public university, Kalamazoo College, a private liberal arts college, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, a two-year community college.

History The area on which the modern city of Kalamazoo stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell tradition, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to decline after the 8th century and was replaced by other groups. The Potawatomi culture lived in the area when the first European explorers arrived.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, passed just south-east of the present city of Kalamazoo in late March 1680. The first Europeans to reside in the area were itinerant fur traders in the late 18th and early 19th century. There are records of several traders wintering in the area, and by the 1820s at least one trading post had been established.

During the War of 1812, the British established a smithy and a prison camp in the area.

The 1821 Treaty of Chicago ceded the territory south of the Grand River to the United States federal government. However, the area around present-day Kalamazoo was reserved as the village of Potawatomi Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish. Six years later, as a result of the 1827 Treaty of St. Joseph, the tract that became the city of Kalamazoo was also ceded.

In 1829, Titus Bronson, originally from Connecticut, became the first white settler to build a cabin within the present city limits of Kalamazoo. He platted the town in 1831 and named it the village of Bronson—not to be confused with the much smaller Bronson, Michigan, about fifty miles (80 km) to the south-southeast of Kalamazoo.

Bronson, frequently described as "eccentric" and argumentative, was later run out of town. The village was renamed Kalamazoo in 1836, due in part to Bronson's being fined for stealing a cherry tree. Today, a hospital and a downtown park, among other things, are named for Bronson. Kalamazoo was legally incorporated as a village in 1838 and as a city in 1883.

The fertile farmlands attracted prosperous Yankee farmers who settled the surrounding area, and sent their sons to Kalamazoo to become businessmen, professionals and entrepreneurs who started numerous factories. Most of the original settlers of Kalamazoo were New Englanders or were from upstate New York.

On August, 27, 1856, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in Kalamazoo during a campaign rally for John C. Fremont, the first Republican presidential candidate. The text of the speech was found by Lincoln historian Thomas I. Starr in a copy of the Detroit Daily Advertiser and published in a booklet. This was the only trip Lincoln ever made to Michigan. In July, 2022, a local non-profit, the Kalamazoo Abraham Lincoln Institute was given permission by the city to place a statue of Lincoln in Bronson Park to commemorate the event.

In the 1940s, the city became the first to install curb cuts.

In 1959, the city created the Kalamazoo Mall, the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States, by closing part of Burdick Street to auto traffic. The Mall was designed by Victor Gruen, who also designed the country's first enclosed shopping mall, which had opened three years earlier. Two of the mall's four blocks were reopened to auto traffic in 1999 after much debate.

Economic history In the past, Kalamazoo was known for its production of windmills, mandolins, buggies, automobiles, cigars, stoves, paper, and paper products. Agriculturally, it once was noted for celery. Although much of it has become suburbanized, the surrounding area still produces farm crops, primarily corn and soybeans.

Kalamazoo was the original home of Gibson Guitar Corporation, which spawned the still-local Heritage Guitars. The company was incorporated as "Gibson Mandolin - Guitar Co., Ltd" on October 11, 1902, by the craftsman Orville Gibson. One budget model was named the Gibson Kalamazoo "Melody Maker" Electric Guitar. Operations were moved gradually from Kalamazoo to Memphis, Tennessee, (Electric Division) and Bozeman, Montana, (Acoustic Division) in the 1980s. Some workers from the original factory stayed in Kalamazoo to create the Heritage Guitar company.

Kalamazoo was once known as the "Paper City" because of the paper mills in and near the city. The Allied Paper Corporation operated several mills and employed 1,300 people in Kalamazoo during the late 1960s. As the forests of West Michigan were logged, paper mills closed.

Early in the 20th century, Kalamazoo was home to the brass era automobile company Barley.

Kalamazoo was also headquarters of the Checker Motors Company, the former manufacturer of the Checker Cab, which also stamped sheet metal parts for other auto manufacturers. Checker closed on June 25, 2009, a victim of the Late-2000s recession.

Geography Most of Kalamazoo is on the south-west bank of a major bend in the Kalamazoo River, with a small portion, about 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²), on the opposite bank. Several small tributaries of the Kalamazoo River, including Arcadia Creek and Portage Creek, wind through the city. The north-eastern portion of Kalamazoo sits in the broad, flat Kalamazoo Valley, while the western portions of Kalamazoo climb into low hills to the west and south. Several small lakes are found throughout the area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Kalamazoo has a total area of 25.11 square miles (65.03 km²), of which 24.68 square miles (63.92 km²) is land and 0.43 square miles (1.11 km²) is water.

Kalamazoo's suburban population is located primarily to the south, in the city of Portage, and to the west in Oshtemo and Texas townships.

At least part of the municipal water supply for Kalamazoo is provided by the watershed contained within the Al Sabo Preserve in Texas Charter Township, Michigan, immediately south-west of Kalamazoo.

Another watershed, Kleinstuck Marsh, is popular with hikers and birdwatchers. Kleinstuck Marsh is south of Maple Street, between Oakland Drive and Westnedge Avenue,

Economy In 2007, Kalamazoo was named to Fast Company's 'Fast 50: Most Innovative Companies 2007', in recognition of the city's community capitalism approach to revitalize the economy. In 2012 Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Kalamazoo fourth of the Ten Best Cities for Cheapskates. The city was named in NerdWallet.com's 2014 'Top 10 Best Cities for Work-Life Balance'.

Breweries Kalamazoo has many local breweries and brewpubs that produce a variety of beer styles.

Perhaps the best-known is Bell's Brewery, established as the Kalamazoo Brewing Company in 1985 by Larry Bell. The brewery has expanded from its original Kalamazoo location, which houses the Eccentric Cafe, to another brewery in nearby Comstock Charter Township. Bell's beer is distributed to 40 US states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Other local breweries include Tibb's Brewing Company, Rupert's Brewhouse (2013-2019), Boatyard Brewing Co. (2014-2019), One Well Brewing, and Latitude 42 Brewing Company, the latter in the southern suburb of Portage. On a smaller scale, Olde Peninsula Brewpub, Bravo! restaurant, and Bilbo's Pizza and Brewing Company serve their own brews. The area is also a hotbed for home brewing and partners with neighboring Grand Rapids to form what is widely considered one of America's more important regions in American craft beer explosion. In recent years, at least two community events have evolved from the growing craft beer industry in the Kalamazoo area (Kalamazoo Beer Week (annual), Kalamazoo Craft Beer Festival). In 2015, the Give a Craft beer trail and passport were introduced. A shuttle bus (Kalamazoo Brew Bus) service and party bike tour service became available in 2016.

Distilleries In 2015, Rupert's Brew House entered the Kalamazoo craft spirits market. Two additional distilleries, Green Door Distilling, formerly Revival Distilling and Kalamazoo Distilling Company, are in the licensing stage.

Flavorings The A.M. Todd Company, one of the lead producers of peppermint oil and other flavorings, is headquartered in Kalamazoo. Its founder, Albert M. Todd, was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 55th Congress.

Kalamazoo is also home to Kalsec, another flavorings company, which was founded by Paul H. Todd Jr., Albert Todd's grandson and U.S. Representative in the 89th Congress. Founded as the Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company, Kalsec is owned and managed by Todd family descendants.

Manufacturing Stryker Corporation is Kalamazoo-based and makes medical equipment.

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet designs and manufactures outdoor kitchen equipment.

Fabri-Kal, a supplier of food service and other containers produced from thermoform plastic or plant-based materials (Greenware product line), has operated corporate headquarters in Kalamazoo since the 1960s. The company closed the Kalamazoo-based manufacturing facilities in 1991, but returned an expanded manufacturing capacity to Kalamazoo in 2008 with the opening of a LEED-certified 400,000 square foot (37,000 m²) facility. In recent years, the company's product lines have introduced sustainable and plant-based materials, and innovations to reduce the plastic content of consumer and other packaging.

Parker Hannifin Aerospace's Hydraulic Systems Division (HSD) is located at 2220 Palmer Ave in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The 170,000-square foot facility designs, manufactures, and services hydraulic components for both military and commercial aerospace sectors. It produces hydraulic axial piston pumps and motors, electric motor-driven pumps, hydraulic power transfer/supply units, electrohydraulic power modules, hydraulic thrust-reverser & landing gear actuators, accumulators, reservoirs, filter modules and valve packs.

Life sciences The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Kalamazoo; through a series of mergers and acquisitions that took place between 1995 and 2003, the Upjohn Company assets became a part of the Pfizer Corporation. Most of Upjohn's original facilities remain, many have been renovated and some new buildings have been constructed. The bulk of the former Upjohn Company facilities in the area exist in Portage, under Pfizer or Zoetis operation; others, located in downtown Kalamazoo, have been re-purposed as the campus of the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, the research and development headquarters of Zoetis, and office space for Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a collaboration involving Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Methodist. The new medical school has been in planning since 2008, and was granted Preliminary Accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in October 2012. Welcoming its first class in August 2014, the school is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation supported by private gifts, clinical revenue, research activity, student tuition, and endowment income. In March 2011, Western Michigan University received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors.

The global Research and Development organization of Zoetis, the world's largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock, is headquartered in downtown Kalamazoo.

The city is also home to the Stryker Corporation, a surgical and medical devices manufacturer.

Kalamazoo hospitals include: Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital, Bronson Methodist Hospital, and Ascension Borgess Hospital.

Industrial design In 2014, Newell Rubbermaid established a global product design centre in Kalamazoo, consolidating fifteen global design units at a single location within the Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park. The Business Technology and Research Park is also home to design firm TEKNA Solutions. In 2015, Kalamazoo-based landscape design and manufacturing firm Landscape Forms, Inc., received five National Design Awards.

Research and economic development The W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization, has operated in Kalamazoo since its establishment in 1945. The Institute conducts research into the causes and effects of unemployment, and measures for the alleviation of unemployment. The Institute also publishes Business Outlook for West Michigan, a quarterly journal that provides economic analysis and forecasts on the West Michigan economy.

The Fetzer Institute promotes and funds holistic solutions to everyday problems. It was founded by John Fetzer, a broadcasting magnate and former owner of the Detroit Tigers and WKZO radio and television in Kalamazoo.

The economic development organization Southwest Michigan First was established in Kalamazoo in 1999, with a focus on community capitalism. The organization was recognised as a Best and Brightest Company to Work For in 2013, and has received Fast Company commendations for innovative strategies to improve the economy. In 2015, two members of Southwest Michigan First were selected for Development Counsellors International's "2015 40 under 40", top 40 young economic developers in the United States.

Businesses Other notable Kalamazoo businesses include: • PNC Bank—Kalamazoo was formerly the corporate HQ of First of America Bank, which merged with National City Bank in 1997. National City has since been purchased and merged with PNC Bank which still maintains a large corporate building in Texas Township, and several locations downtown, along with numerous branches in the region. • Henderson Castle, an 1895 Queen Anne-Style house that sits on West Main Hill across from Mountain Home cemetery, overlooking the city. It is privately owned but open to the public and currently functioning as a bed and breakfast, restaurant and spa.

Education Kalamazoo is home to Western Michigan University. The college has four campuses in Kalamazoo, (West Campus, East Campus, Parkview Campus and Oakland Drive Campus) as well as several regional locations throughout Michigan and two in Florida. West Campus, located just west of downtown, has the largest concentration of university students, programs and school services. In 2005, Western Michigan ranked as the no. 2 wireless campus in the United States, per a national survey done by the Intel Corporation. In 2014, the WMU Homer Stryker School of Medicine (WMed) opened, welcoming an inaugural class of 54 students.

Each May, WMU hosts the International Congress on Medieval Studies. Organized by the Medieval Institute's faculty and graduate students, the Congress brings some 3,000 professors and students from around the globe to present and discuss a variety of topics related to the Middle Ages.

Kalamazoo College, a private liberal arts college founded in 1833, is located on a hill opposite WMU's original campus.

Kalamazoo is home to Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Davenport University, and Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC). Construction of the new Kalamazoo Valley Community College Culinary and Allied Health campus began in August 2014. It had also been the home of Nazareth College, which closed in 1992.

Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States 
<b>Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States</b>
Image: Mxobe

Kalamazoo has a population of over 76,550 people. Kalamazoo also forms one of the centres of the wider Kalamazoo-Portage metropolitan area which has a population of over 326,589 people. Kalamazoo is ranked #674 for startups with a score of 0.221.

To set up a UBI Lab for Kalamazoo see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Kalamazoo has links with:

🇯🇲 Kingston, Jamaica 🇯🇵 Numazu, Japan 🇷🇺 Pushkin, Russia
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Antipodal to Kalamazoo is: 94.417,-42.283

Locations Near: Kalamazoo -85.5833,42.2833

🇺🇸 Portage -85.583,42.2 d: 9.3  

🇺🇸 Battle Creek -85.191,42.319 d: 32.5  

🇺🇸 Wyoming -85.75,42.867 d: 66.3  

🇺🇸 Marshall -84.95,42.267 d: 52.1  

🇺🇸 Grand Rapids -85.672,42.966 d: 76.3  

🇺🇸 Elkhart -85.974,41.687 d: 73.7  

🇺🇸 Holland -86.1,42.783 d: 69.9  

🇺🇸 Charlotte -84.833,42.55 d: 68.3  

🇺🇸 Mishawaka -86.172,41.686 d: 82.3  

🇺🇸 South Bend -86.245,41.735 d: 81.9  

Antipodal to: Kalamazoo 94.417,-42.283

🇦🇺 Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 17909.7  

🇦🇺 Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 17852.1  

🇦🇺 Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 17835  

🇦🇺 City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 17819.6  

🇦🇺 Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 17804.1  

🇦🇺 Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 17803.5  

🇦🇺 Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 17793.5  

🇦🇺 Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 17791.2  

🇦🇺 Midland 116.01,-31.888 d: 17787.6  

🇦🇺 Albany 117.867,-35.017 d: 17833.1  

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