Kalamazoo, Michigan Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == The area on which the modern city of Kalamazoo stands was once home to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] of the [[Hopewell tradition]], who migrated into the area sometime before the [[1st millennium|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.<ref>{{cite book |last = Dunbar |first = Willis |title = Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State |publisher = Wm. B. Edermans |year = 1995 |location = Grand Rapids, MI |pages = 10–12 |isbn = 0-8028-7055-4 }}</ref> The [[Potawatomi]] culture lived in the area when the first European explorers arrived. [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]], passed just southeast of the present city of Kalamazoo in late March 1680. The first Europeans to reside in the area were itinerant [[fur trade]]rs 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.<ref name="rootsweb2007">{{cite web |title = Michigan Centennial History |url = http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/centhist1.htm |access-date = June 7, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114084915/http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/centhist1.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 14, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Kalamazoo's First Residents: Our Native Americans |work = Kalamazoo Public Library: Local history |url = http://www.kpl.gov/collections/localhistory/allabout/general/Indians.aspx |access-date = June 7, 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830015728/http://www.kpl.gov/collections/localhistory/AllAbout/general/Indians.aspx |archive-date = August 30, 2007 }}</ref> During the [[War of 1812]], the British established a smithy and a prison camp in the area.<ref name="rootsweb2007"/> The [[1821 Treaty of Chicago]] ceded the territory south of the [[Grand River (Michigan)|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.<ref name="bronson1">{{cite web |title = Titus Bronson: Founder of Kalamazoo |work = Kalamazoo Public Library: Local history |url = http://www.kpl.gov/collections/LocalHistory/AllAbout/biography/TitusBronson.aspx |access-date = June 20, 2006 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060110014828/http://www.kpl.gov/collections/LocalHistory/AllAbout/biography/TitusBronson.aspx |archive-date = January 10, 2006 }}</ref> He [[plat]]ted the town in 1831 and named it the village of Bronson—not to be confused with the much smaller [[Bronson, Michigan]], about {{convert|50|mi|km|spell=in}} 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.<ref name="bronson2">{{cite web |title = The History of Kalamazoo MI |work = Living in Kalamazoo |url = http://www.kalamazoomi.com/hisf.htm |access-date = June 20, 2006 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060706172104/http://www.kalamazoomi.com/hisf.htm |archive-date = July 6, 2006 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite magazine |first1 = John T. |last1 = Houdek |first2 = Charles F. Jr. |last2 = Heller |title = The Emergence of Prosperous Farmers and Businessmen in Nineteenth-Century Kalamazoo County, Michigan |magazine = Michigan Historical Review |year = 2011 |volume = 37 |issue = 2 |pages = 53–78 }}</ref> Most of the original settlers of Kalamazoo were New Englanders or were from upstate New York.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qMXoj2IUNUUC&q=History+of+Kalamazoo+County%2C+Michigan+140&pg=PA140 |page = 140 |title = History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan |publisher = Everts & Abbott |location = Philadelphia |year = 1880 |access-date = October 29, 2014 }}</ref> [[File:Labadie's souvenir of picturesque Kalamazoo (IA 3125273.0001.001.umich.edu).pdf|thumb|Pdf of E. E. Labadie's Souvenir of Picturesque Kalamazoo (1909)]] On August 27, 1856, [[Abraham Lincoln]] gave a speech in Kalamazoo during a campaign rally for [[John C. Frémont|John C. Fremont]], the first Republican presidential candidate. The [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln2/1:391?rgn=div1;view=fulltext 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=George |first=Tom M. |date=Summer 2012 |title="Mechem" or "Mack": How a One-Word Correction in the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln Reveals the Truth About an 1856 Event |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0033.204/--mechem-or-mack-how-a-one-word-correction-in-the-collected?rgn=main;view=fulltext |journal=Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=20–33}}</ref> In July 2022, a local non-profit, the [https://kalamazoolincolninstitute.org/ Kalamazoo Abraham Lincoln Institute], was given permission by the city to place a statue of Lincoln in Bronson Park to commemorate the event.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Devereaux |first=Brad |date=July 5, 2022 |title=Abraham Lincoln statue approved for Bronson Park in Kalamazoo |work=MLive |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2022/07/abraham-lincoln-statue-approved-for-bronson-park-in-kalamazoo.html |access-date=July 7, 2022}}</ref> In the 1940s, the city became the first to install [[curb cuts]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/smashing-barriers-access-disability-activism-and-curb-cuts |title = Smashing barriers to access: Disability activism and curb cuts |last = Peterson |first = Julie |date = July 15, 2015 |website = National Museum of American History |language = en |access-date = December 31, 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180101135718/http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/smashing-barriers-access-disability-activism-and-curb-cuts |archive-date = January 1, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url = https://thesurprisedpessimist.com/2016/06/02/the-kalamazoo-kerb-cuts/ |title = The Kalamazoo Kerb Cuts |date = June 2, 2016 |work = the surprised pessimist |access-date = December 31, 2017 |language = en-US |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180101140305/https://thesurprisedpessimist.com/2016/06/02/the-kalamazoo-kerb-cuts/ |archive-date = January 1, 2018 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Changeobserver.designobserver.com"/> Two of the mall's four blocks were reopened to auto traffic in 1999 after much debate.<ref name="The History of Kalamazoo MI"/> An [[Kalamazoo Tornado of 1980|F3 tornado]] struck downtown Kalamazoo on May 13, 1980, killing five and injuring 79.<ref name="tornado">{{cite web |title = Kalamazoo 1980 Tornado |work = Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Genealogy and Local History |url = http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/tornado.htm |access-date = July 30, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219071551/http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/tornado.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = February 19, 2007 }}</ref> On February 20, 2016, Kalamazoo became the site of [[2016 Kalamazoo shootings|a random series of shootings]] in which six people were killed.<ref>{{cite web |title = At Least 6 Killed In Series Of Shootings In Kalamazoo |url = https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/21/467531697/at-least-6-killed-3-injured-in-kalamazoo-mich-shootings |work = NPR |date = February 21, 2016 |access-date = February 22, 2016 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160222021614/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/21/467531697/at-least-6-killed-3-injured-in-kalamazoo-mich-shootings |archive-date = February 22, 2016 }}</ref> A prime suspect was apprehended by police without incident.<ref>{{cite news |title = Kalamazoo, Michigan: Seven shot dead in 'random' attacks |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35624558 |work = BBC News |date = February 21, 2016 |access-date = February 21, 2016 |language = en-GB |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160222020645/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35624558 |archive-date = February 22, 2016 }}</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:North Burdick Street, Kalamazoo, MI.jpg|North Burdick St. in 1908 File:Academy Street, Kalamazoo, MI.jpg|Academy St. in 1908 File:Old Public Library, Kalamazoo, MI.jpg|Old public library in 1908 File:Kalamazoo Paper Mills, Kalamazoo, MI.jpg|Paper mills in 1908 </gallery> === Economic history === [[File:LocomotivCraneDerrickCarSRM.jpg|thumb|[[Canadian National Railways|CNR]] derrick car (Sylvester Manufacturing Company, Kalamazoo Railway Supply Company). Mounted on a push car, pulled with a [[railroad speeder|speeder]] or draisine.<ref name="SRM">{{cite web |title = Welcome to Saskrailmuseum.org |work = Contact Us |date = September 11, 2008 |url = http://www.saskrailmuseum.org/ |access-date = October 3, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081015051856/http://www.saskrailmuseum.org/ |archive-date = October 15, 2008 }} </ref>]] In the past, Kalamazoo was known for its production of [[windmills]], [[mandolin]]s, [[horse and buggy|buggies]], [[automobiles]], [[cigars]], [[stove]]s, [[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 Electric Guitar|Gibson Kalamazoo "Melody Maker" Electric Guitar]]. Operations were moved gradually from Kalamazoo to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] (Electric Division) and [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]], [[Montana]] (Acoustic Division) in the 1980s. Some workers from the original factory stayed in Kalamazoo to create the [[Heritage Guitars|Heritage Guitar]] company.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.heritageguitar.com/ |title = Heritage Guitar Inc., of Kalamazoo |work = heritageguitar.com |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140517185252/http://heritageguitar.com/ |archive-date = May 17, 2014 |access-date = December 28, 2012 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title = Paper Industry Provides 25% of City's Employment |work = Kalamazoo News |date = July 18, 1940 }}{{page needed|date=February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = This is Still the Paper City |first = Al |last = Jones |work = Kalamazoo Gazette |date = March 14, 1999 }}{{page needed|date=February 2019}}</ref> Early in the 20th century, Kalamazoo was home to the [[Brass Era car]] company [[Barley Motor Car Co.|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]]. 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