Do you remember the tornado that struck downtown Kalamazoo on Tuesday, May 13, 1980? Within sixteen minutes the swirling tail had swung through the busiest corridor of Kalamazoo, making it the city’s worst natural disaster. Five individuals lost their lives that day and seventy-nine were injured. Remarkably many had been […]
kalamazoo
9 posts
Did you know there’s a multi-use recreation trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven? Through the effort of many and the resistance of some, this retired rail line had been reimagined into the linear park it is today. This rail line is FULL of crazy, curious history! Join us as we […]
Did you know that the Checker Motor Company had started in Kalamazoo and lasted 87 years? This western Michigan history has threaded its way through Chicago and New York. Join Chuck and I as we learn about Checker Cabs and the people behind these mighty vehicles. Who Was Morris Markin? […]
Did you know that Gibson Guitars had started in Kalamazoo, Michigan? When had it started? Who had been responsible for these hand crafted guitars? When had they decided to relocate to Nashville, Tennessee? Who is working in this shop now? Join Chuck and I as we investigate this curious Michigan […]
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln had spoken at Bronson Park in Kalamazoo? Recently a sculpture of our 16th president had been dedicated on August 27, 2023 at 2:00pm. This ceremony had been exactly 167 years since Honest Abe had stood in this same location. With President’s Day coming up, […]
Wait? What? Kalamazoo had once been the second highest producer of celery? Chuck and I had lived in Kalamazoo in the early 1990’s while attending Western Michigan University. Neither of us had known the important role that CELERY had played in the economy of K-zoo. Join us as we embark […]
I had no idea that Kalamazoo held a secret, Arcadia Creek. Chuck and I had attended Western Michigan University in the early 1990’s. We’d explored urban areas, usually at night, with no idea that a creek had been spying on us from beneath the streets. Join us as we put […]
A collection of flyswatters?!? I haven’t given these tools much thought, but when Chuck, my husband, and I entered the Kalamazoo Valley Museum we were captivated by the display of flyswatters! Some hung from the ceiling in front of three glass cases filled with many styles of these pest controllers. […]
The summer mugginess hung around us as we strolled around Kalamazoo. My husband, Chuck, and I often return to the city where we’d met decades ago at WMU. “Hey, isn’t that the abandoned building we’d climbed into?” Chuck mentioned. We noted how the painted brick had been sandblasted to reveal […]