Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, which had a population of 335,340 in 2015. Kalamazoo is

equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is ...

from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, being about 140 miles (225 kilometers) 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 Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the tr ...

, a large public university,

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...

, a private liberal arts college, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, a two-year community college.

Name origin

Originally known as Bronson (after founder Titus Bronson) in the township of Arcadia, the names of both the city and the township were changed to "Kalamazoo" in 1836 and 1837, respectively. The name “Kalamazoo” comes from a

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

word, first found in a British report in 1772. The Kalamazoo River, which passes through the modern city of Kalamazoo, was located on the route between

and Fort Saint-Joseph (nowadays

Niles, Michigan Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana border city of South Bend. In 2010, the population was 11,600 according to the 2010 census. It is the larger, by population, of the two principal cities ...

). French-Canadian traders, missionaries, and military personnel were quite familiar with this area during the French era and thereafter. The Kalamazoo River was then known by Canadians and French as ''La rivière Kikanamaso''. The name "Kikanamaso" was also recorded by Father

Pierre Potier Pierre Potier (22 August 1934 – 3 February 2006) was a French pharmacist as well as a chemist. He held the position of Director of the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (1974 to 2000), as well as a teaching position at the Muséu ...

, a Jesuit missionary for the Huron-Wendats at the Assumption mission (south shore of Detroit), while en route to Fort Saint-Joseph during the fall of 1760. Legend has it that "Ki-ka-ma-sung", meaning "boiling water", referred to a footrace held each fall by local Native Americans, in which participants had to run to the river and back before a pot boiled. The word ''negikanamazo'', purported to mean "otter tail" or "stones like otters", has also been cited as a possible origin of the name. Another theory is that it means "the mirage or reflecting river". Another legend is that the image of "boiling water" referred to fog on the river as seen from the hills above the current downtown. The name was also given to the river that flows almost all the way across the state. The name Kalamazoo, which sounds unusual to English speakers, has become a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for exotic places, as in the phrase "from

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label= Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrat ...

to Kalamazoo". Today, T-shirts are sold in Kalamazoo with the phrase "Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo".

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 A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to decline after the 8th century and was replaced by other groups. The

culture lived in the area when the first European explorers arrived.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...

, 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 The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...

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. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, 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

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 Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, became the first white settler to build a cabin within the present city limits of Kalamazoo. He

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted the town in 1831 and named it the village of Bronson—not to be confused with the much smaller

Bronson, Michigan Bronson is a city located in west central Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,349 at the 2010 census. Bronson is situated on U.S. Highway 12 about southwest of Coldwater. The ZIP code is 49028 and the FIPS plac ...

, about 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 The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

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 Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

gave a speech in Kalamazoo during a campaign rally for

John C. Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, the first Republican presidential candidate. Th
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, th
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 Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum
retrieved 25 February 2012 (July 18, 1903 – February 1 ...

, who also designed the country's first enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

, which had opened three years earlier. Two of the mall's four blocks were reopened to auto traffic in 1999 after much debate. An

F3 tornado The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

struck downtown Kalamazoo on May 13, 1980, killing five and injuring 79. On February 20, 2016, Kalamazoo became the site of a random series of shootings in which six people were killed. A prime suspect was apprehended by police without incident. 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

Economic history

In the past, Kalamazoo was known for its production of windmills,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

s, buggies,

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

, cigars,

stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre e ...

, and paper products. Agriculturally, it once was noted for

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

. 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 Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

, (Electric Division) and Bozeman,

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

, (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 A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

company

Barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley ...

. Kalamazoo was also headquarters of the Checker Motors Company, the former manufacturer of the

Checker Cab Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American vehicle manufacturer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan that built the iconic Checker Taxicab, sold commercially ...

, which also stamped sheet metal parts for other auto manufacturers. Checker closed on June 25, 2009, a victim of the

Late-2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

Geography

Most of Kalamazoo is on the southwest bank of a major bend in the Kalamazoo River, with a small portion, about , on the opposite bank. Several small tributaries of the Kalamazoo River, including Arcadia Creek and Portage Creek, wind through the city. The northeastern 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 The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, Kalamazoo has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Kalamazoo's suburban population is located primarily to the south, in the city of

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, 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 Al Sabo Preserve is an area of northeastern Texas Township, in southwestern Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It comprises of marsh, forest, streams, and rolling hills. Numerous trails provide recreational opportunities throughout the Preserve. L ...

in Texas Charter Township, Michigan, immediately southwest 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, Kalamazoo's major north-south artery.

Climate

Kalamazoo has a humid continental ( Köppen Dfa) climate. Summers can be hot, humid, and relatively long, comprising the months of May to September. Tornadoes are rare but possible in Kalamazoo. In fact, in 1980, a major tornado ripped through downtown Kalamazoo causing extensive damage. In winter, temperatures occasionally plummet below 0 °F (-18°). Kalamazoo has been known for brutal snow storms as late as early April, but there are occasional winter days with no snow cover on the ground at all.

Lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up through ...

storms are commonplace in the winter.

Demographics

As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $31,189, and the median income for a family was $42,438. Males had a median income of $32,160 versus $25,532 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,897. About 13.6% of families and 24.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 26.0% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 74,262 people, 29,141 households, and 13,453 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 32,433 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 68.1%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 22.2%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.5% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 2.8% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 6.4% of the population. There were 29,141 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 53.8% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 26.2 years. 20.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 27% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.9% were from 25 to 44; 18.2% were from 45 to 64; and 9.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.

Neighborhoods

The city of Kalamazoo is commonly divided into 22 neighborhoods, many of which are served by a

neighborhood association A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues. Some neighborhood associations in the United State ...

. The Neighborhood Development Division of the city's government works with these associations to invest federal, state, and local funds, including those from the Community Development Block Grant program, in community improvements and economic growth.

Economy

In 2007, Kalamazoo was named to

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan We ...

'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 A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...

and brewpubs that produce a variety of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...

styles. Perhaps the best-known is

Bell's Brewery Bell's Brewery, Inc. is an American craft brewing company, with operations in Comstock and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell's brews acclaimed beers such as Hopslam Ale, Oberon Ale, and Two Hearted Ale. It operates a brewpub and a store selling merchand ...

, 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 Comstock Charter Township is a charter township of Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located east of the city of Kalamazoo and is part of the Kalamazoo–Portage Metropolitan Area. The 2010 census recorded the population within t ...

. 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 , Boatyard Brewing Co. , 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 Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

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. Olde Peninsula

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 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * A.M. (Chris Young album), ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * A.M. (Wilco album), ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * AM (Abraham Mateo album), ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) ...

, one of the lead producers of

peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantb ...

oil and other flavorings, is headquartered in Kalamazoo. Its founder, Albert M. Todd, was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for the

55th Congress The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1897, to M ...

. Kalamazoo is also home to Kalsec, another flavorings company, which was founded by

Paul H. Todd Jr. Paul Harold Todd Jr. (September 22, 1921November 18, 2008) was an American politician, soldier, and business executive from the U.S. state of Michigan. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 1967. Early life and edu ...

, Albert Todd's grandson and U.S. Representative in the

89th Congress The 89th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1965, ...

. 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 Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

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 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

-certified facility. In recent years, the company's product lines have introduced

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

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 Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

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

, 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 Zoetis Inc. (/zō-EH-tis/) is an American drug company, the world's largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock. The company was a subsidiary of Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, but with Pfizer's spinoff of its 83 ...

, and office space for Bronson Methodist Hospital. Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a collaboration involving

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,

received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors. The global

Research and Development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

organization of

, the world's largest producer of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

and

vaccinations Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulati ...

for pets and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to anima ...

, 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 Ascension Michigan, formerly St. John Providence Health System and the St. John Health System, is the Michigan division of Ascension Health. It was its own non-profit corporation that owned and operated four hospitals and over 125 medical facilitie ...

Industrial design

In 2014, Newell Rubbermaid established a global product design center in Kalamazoo, consolidating fifteen global design units at a single location within the

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 An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

. The Fetzer Institute promotes and funds

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED O ...

solutions to everyday problems. It was founded by John Fetzer, a broadcasting magnate and former owner of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and WKZO

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

in Kalamazoo. The economic development organization Southwest Michigan First was established in Kalamazoo in 1999, with a focus on community capitalism. The organization was recognized as a Best and Brightest Company to Work For in 2013, and has received

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.

Government

Kalamazoo government is administered under a commission-manager style of government. The city commission is the representative body of the city, and consists of seven members—six city commissioners and a separately elected mayor—elected on a staggered

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

basis every four years. Whoever receives the most votes during an election becomes vice mayor of the city for the first two years of their term until a new vice mayor is selected. The current City Commission consists of Mayor David Anderson, Vice Mayor Don Cooney, and commissioners Jeanne Hess, Chris Praedel, Qianna Decker, Stephanie Hoffman, and Esteven Juarez. The current mayor, David F. Anderson, was elected to a second term on November 2, 2021, beating Ben Stanley with 78.7% of the vote. The vice mayor of Kalamazoo is Don Cooney, who won election in 2021 with 69.37% of the vote. The

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a " Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief ex ...

is the city's chief administrative officer. The manager is hired by, and answers to, the city commission.

Crime

Kalamazoo has a higher crime rate than the national average. Crime is spread throughout Kalamazoo and is especially high in the inner neighborhoods such as Edison, the Northside and Vine. Crime is lower in the downtown and most of the southwest area. The aggravated assault rate in 2015 was 793.3 per 100,000—3.3 times the national average. The murder rate was 12.5 per 100,000 in 2010 and 7.9 in 2014. The 2016 Kalamazoo shootings by Uber driver Jason Dalton claimed 6 lives and caused 2 serious injuries in Kalamazoo County. Between 2008 and 2013 firearms were involved in 61% of homicides in Kalamazoo county compared to 77% statewide.

Education

Kalamazoo is home to

. 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 Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

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 The International Congress on Medieval Studies is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, medieval studies. It is sponsored by Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is held during ...

. 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, 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 Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification progra ...

, 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 Nazareth College may refer to: Australia * Nazareth College (Australia), in Melbourne * Nazareth Catholic College, Adelaide Spain *Nazareth College, Alicante United States * Nazareth College (Kentucky), now Spalding University * Nazareth College ...

, which closed in 1992.

K-12 education

The public schools for the vast majority of Kalamazoo are managed by Kalamazoo Public Schools. Every resident graduate of the Kalamazoo Public Schools is provided with a scholarship for up to 100% of tuition and mandatory fee costs for four years at any public university or community college in Michigan, starting with the class of 2006. This program is known as the Kalamazoo Promise. Small sections of Kalamazoo are in other school districts: Parchment School District,

Comstock Public Schools The Comstock Public School District resides in Comstock Charter Township near the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is part of the Kalamazoo RESA Intermediate School District. Comstock Public Schools also serves portions of Kalamazoo Township, ...

and

Portage Public Schools Portage Public Schools is a school district located in Portage, Michigan which serves 8647 students in 14 different schools, including 8 elementary, 3 middle, 2 high, and a community high school. The school began its 99th year of service on Sept ...

Culture

The city has an Arts Council. On the first Friday of each month, the council organizes the 'Art Hop'. Art Hop is a free event, during which downtown businesses and galleries display works by local artists, and patrons 'hop' from venue to venue, enjoying art, live music, and the chance to interact with local artists. A popular site during Art Hop is the Park Trades Center, which houses the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, Glass Art Kalamazoo, and many other studios. On

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

, downtown Kalamazoo is the site of an annual New Year's Fest celebration. This celebration is centered at Bronson Park and surrounding venues, allowing patrons to walk from venue to venue to enjoy an all ages showcase of performing arts and other activities (music, magic, comedy, exhibitions, fireworks, food). Initiated in 1985, the event has grown in scope and popularity. Music groups and other performing artists perform at the downtown State Theatre,

's Miller Auditorium, and Wings Event Center. The annual "Eccentric Day" at Bell's Eccentric Cafe celebrates the brewery's Eccentric Ale on the December Friday that marks the end of finals at Western Michigan University. The Moped Army was founded in Kalamazoo in 1997. There is no longer a zoo in Kalamazoo. The Milham Park Zoo closed in 1974. Next to Milham Park is the Milham Park Golf Course. Completed in 1936, the 18-hole, par-72 course is entirely within the city limits of Kalamazoo. During winter,

sledding Sledding, sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled (North American), a sledge (British), or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, sk ...

and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

are popular activities at the golf course (free of charge). In recent years, the Kalamazoo Nordic Skiers club has groomed and maintained skate ski and classic ski trails for community use. In 2002, the Kalamazoo Public Library was named "Library of the Year" by ''Library Journal''. The library includes a main location and four branch libraries, and until 2010, a

bookmobile A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

system. In 2014, the library opened 'The Hub', a digital lab open to the public for digitizing photos and video, producing podcasts, preserving old vinyl records, cassettes and VHS tapes, and other services. Kalamazoo's theaters and performing groups include the Kalamazoo Civic Players, New Vic Theatre,

Farmers Alley Theatre A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farme ...

, Crawlspace Theatre Productions, The State Theater, and the Barn Theatre in nearby Augusta. Plays and musicals are also performed at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University.

Animation festival

A project of Kalamazoo Valley Community College, The Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) encourages and educates animation artists, promotes Kalamazoo's animation industry, and provides community entertainment. In addition to a biannual festival, KAFI sponsors events such as film screenings and workshops throughout the year. KAFI's first festival drew 235 submissions and nearly 1,000 attendees in 2002. A second festival was held in 2003. Since then, an every-other-year schedule has been adopted. The 2007 festival attracted more than 500 entries from 37 countries. In addition to an animated film competition with $15,000 in prizes awarded, the festival features events for students, artists, educators, filmmakers and the general public. Past KAFI award winners include Bill Plympton, Chris Landreth and John Canemaker.

Museums

The city's most prominent art museum is the

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) is a non-profit art museum and school in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. History In 1924, members of the Kalamazoo Chapter of the American Federation of Arts established an art center "to further ...

, whose collection has more than 3,600 works and a focus on 20th-century American art. The KIA regularly mounts temporary exhibitions. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum, established in 1881, is an American Association of Museums accredited museum operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The museum features "hands-on" exhibits aimed largely at children, and has a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

and a Challenger Learning Center. Northeast of town, in Hickory Corners, is the Gilmore Car Museum, which includes cars used in

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

movies. The Kalamazoo Air Zoo, just south of town, has several dozen aircraft on display, from biplanes to jets.

Music

The

Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson Brands, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was for ...

, founded in Kalamazoo in 1902, spurred local musicians to play a wide variety of styles, from classical and folk to modern rock (the company relocated to Nashville in 1984). The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1921, is directed by Raymond Harvey. The city also hosts the

Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' vide ...

, a

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Festival, the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, and the Stulberg International String Competition. The local and

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

scene has produced pop stars such as RCA recording artists

The Verve Pipe The Verve Pipe is an American rock band from Michigan. It was formed in 1992 in East Lansing by Brian Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown. History In November 1992, Brian Vander Ark of the band "Johnny with an Eye" signed a production de ...

and Metal Blade recording artists Thought Industry. Kalamazoo is also host to the Kalamashoegazer music festival, held for the last 13 years and a showcase for both local and national shoegaze and dream pop bands.

Sports

Kalamazoo plays host to three non-collegiate teams: * The Kalamazoo Growlers Summer Collegiate baseball team plays games in

Homer Stryker Field Homer Stryker Field is a stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The baseball field is located in Kalamazoo's Mayors Riverfront Park. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field for the Kalamazoo Growlers of the collegiate summer baseball No ...

. The team is currently a member of the Northwoods League. * The Kalamazoo Wings (aka K-Wings) minor league hockey team play games in Wings Event Center and has played since 1974. The team is currently a member of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

, a development league for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. * The Kalamazoo FC, a

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially affiliated to the U ...

team, was established in 2016. The

Broncos, who compete in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Division I

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twe ...

, play at the following on-campus venues: *

Waldo Stadium Waldo Stadium is a stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is primarily used for football, and has been the home of Western Michigan University Broncos football in rudimentary form since 1914, and as a complete stadium since 1939. It currently ...

( football) * Lawson Arena ( hockey) * University Arena (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

) * Hyames Field (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

) * Ebert Field (

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

) * Kanley Track (outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

) Hyames Field played host to the first two

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

held in 1947 and 1948. Future U. S. President George H. W. Bush was a first baseman for Yale in the 1947 series. The

Hornets and Kalamazoo Valley Community College Cougars also have several collegiate athletic teams. Kalamazoo is the hometown of former

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

shortstop

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

, former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

wide receiver Greg Jennings, former

running back T. J. Duckett, the world's number one prize money winning pro bass fisherman Kevin VanDam, former MLB pitcher Scott Olsen, former

player

Adam Hall Adam John Hall (born August 14, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey player. A second round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Hall played in the National Hockey League for the Nashville Predators, ...

and former

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

first baseman

Mike Squires Michael Lynn Squires (born March 5, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball player who played for the Chicago White Sox primarily as a first baseman from 1975 and 1977 to 1985. He won the American League Gold Glove Award at first base ...

. Kalamazoo was also the hometown of longtime

owner John Fetzer, who owned the American League team from 1961 through 1984, when he sold the franchise to

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino ...

founder Tom Monaghan. The

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Boys 18 and 16 National Tennis Championships are hosted every summer by

. The event has featured such players as

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He won four major singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. He was the youngest man to reach the singles finals o ...

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. Chang won a total o ...

, James Blake and

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

, before they turned professional. The Kalamazoo Rugby Football Club, founded in 1988, competes in the Michigan Rugby Football Union. Since 2006, Wings Event Center has been the home of the

Kalamazoo Derby Darlins Kalamazoo Roller Derby (KRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 2006, the league consists of two teams which compete against teams from other leagues, and is a member of the Women's Flat Track De ...

roller derby league teams. Following up on successful events in 2010 and 2015, Wings Event Center and the Kalamazoo Curling Club will host the 2019 U.S. National

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

Championship. The annual

Kalamazoo Marathon Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

, a

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 ...

-certified and

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ...

-qualifying event, is part of a weekend of running and walking events. In 1984–1986, the Kalamazoo Kangaroos, a Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) team, played in Kalamazoo.

Local media

Newspapers

Kalamazoo is served by one daily newspaper, the ''

Kalamazoo Gazette The ''Kalamazoo Gazette'' is the daily newspaper in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is part of MLive Media Group, Michigan's largest local media organization. ''The Gazette'' publishes seven days a week. Papers are available for home delivery on Thursd ...

'', which now prints three editions weekly as of early 2012. ''Business Review Western Michigan'', a

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when: * A business is sourcing materials for their production process for output (e.g., a ...

publication headquartered in Kalamazoo, covering Western Michigan news, was rolled into

MLive MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers in the state of Michigan. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold to Advance Publications ...

online coverage in late 2012. The ultimate parent company of both the ''Gazette'' and ''Business Review'' are Advance Publications, Inc.

Television

WWMT, West Michigan's CBS / CW affiliate, is licensed and operates out of Kalamazoo but serves the entire West Michigan region. The station was originally owned and operated by famous broadcasting pioneer (and former

owner) John Fetzer, as "WKZO-TV". Along with television, Fetzer introduced Kalamazoo to radio in 1931, when AM 590 WKZO signed on the air. Fetzer also created Kalamazoo's first

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

system, then known as Fetzer Cablevision; it is a predecessor of Kalamazoo's current cable franchise,

Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, ...

. Public Media Network, located in downtown Kalamazoo, hosts media outlets including Charter cable channels 187-191 where daily public access programs are produced and aired to the public. Kalamazoo is part of the West Michigan television market, which also includes Grand Rapids and Battle Creek. Most channels that serve the entire market are receivable in Kalamazoo, including WWMT,

WOOD-TV WOOD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for West Michigan. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Battle Creek–licensed ABC affiliate WOTV (channel 41 ...

( NBC), WXMI (

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

), WZPX ( Ion) and WLLA (religious). Some channels based in the northern part of the market reach Kalamazoo through a satellite or translator, such as WTLJ Muskegon (religious, through W26BX), WGVU-TV Grand Rapids ( PBS, through WGVK), and WXSP-CD Grand Rapids (

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

, through WOKZ-CA). WOTV in Battle Creek broadcasts ABC programming for the southern part of the market, including Kalamazoo. Charter offers all West Michigan channels on its system to Kalamazoo subscribers, including

WZZM WZZM (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station has studios on 3 Mile Road NW in Walker (with a Grand Rapids mailing ...

, the ABC affiliate for Grand Rapids and the northern part of the market.

Radio

WIDR WIDR (89.1 FM) is a freeform FM radio station that broadcasts from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. WIDR, a student-run radio station licensed to Western Michigan University, broadcasts with 100 watts of power. The stati ...

is the college student-run, commercial free radio station at Western Michigan University. It is known for playing obscure and underground music of all genres as well as some local news and talk. Broadcasting 100 watts on 89.1 FM, WIDR can be heard from about a 20-mile radius from campus. WMUK is also on Western Michigan University's campus. It hosts many local music programs including jazz and classical performances as well as programming from NPR. WMUK broadcasts 50,000 watts in high definition on 102.1 FM. WKDS is West Michigan's only high school student-run radio station. The station signed on in 1983 at 89.9 on the FM dial, broadcasting from Loy Norrix High School. The call letters stood for Kalamazoo District Schools (now Kalamazoo Public Schools). For most of its history, WKDS broadcast only during daytime hours and not at all on the weekend. In Fall of 2004, the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in an attempt to prevent an outside organization to take over the time WKDS was off the air. WKDS was part of a county wide Education For Employment program for years. The radio station is still owned by Kalamazoo Public Schools although the EFE program has been discontinued. High school students from around the area continue to operate the station. FM radio stations that originate or can be heard over the air in Kalamazoo: * WCXK 88.3 - Kalamazoo - Christian Adult Contemporary *

89.1 - Kalamazoo - College/Variety * WKDS 89.9 - Kalamazoo - High School/Variety * WCSG 91.3 - Grand Rapids - Christian Adult Contemporary * WZUU 92.5 - Mattawan/Kalamazoo - Classic Rock * WBCT 93.7 - Grand Rapids - Country * WWDK 94.1 - Jackson/Lansing/Battle Creek/Kalamazoo - Classic Country * WKLQ 94.5 - Grand Rapids - Adult Album Alternative *

W238AL WTOU (1660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate on 1660 kHz from facilities located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. History WTOU began as the "expanded band" twin to a station operat ...

95.5 - Kalamazoo - Urban Adult Contemporary (FM translator for AM 1560) *

WLKM-FM WLKM-FM is a radio station owned by Impact Radio and licensed to Three Rivers, Michigan. The featured music is adult contemporary. The format switched from classic hits on June 17, 2012, when the Dial Global Classic Hits format the station had ...

95.9 - Three Rivers - Adult Contemporary * WMAX-FM 96.1 - Holland/Grand Rapids - Sports * WZOX 96.5 - Portage/Kalamazoo - Modern Adult Contemporary * WGRD 97.9 - Grand Rapids - Mainstream Rock * WNWN 98.5 - Coldwater/Battle Creek/Kalamazoo - Country *

WBCH-FM WBCH-FM (100.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Hastings, Michigan broadcasting a country music format. Bronco Radio Network WBCH is an affiliate of the Western Michigan University "Broncos Radio Network" and carries all of the Broncos footb ...

100.1 - Hastings - Country *

WQXC WQXC-FM (100.9 FM, "Cool 101") is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Allegan, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1981 under the WAOP call sign. WQXC-FM was licensed to Otsego, Michigan from its sign-on until the city ...

100.9 - Otsego/Kalamazoo - Oldies * WMUK 102.1 - Kalamazoo - NPR/Talk/Classical/Jazz * WKFR-HD2 102.5 - Kalamazoo - Classic Hits (FM translator for WKFR-HD sub-channel) * WYHA 102.9 - Grand Rapids - Christian * WKFR 103.3 - Battle Creek/Kalamazoo - CHR/Top 40 * WVGR 104.1 - Grand Rapids - NPR/Talk * WBXX 104.9 - Marshall/Battle Creek - Alternative Rock *

WKPR WKPR (1440 AM) was a radio station that had served the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. WKPR Kalamazoo began its broadcast life in 1960. An unusual result of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing ahead of its creation was that two radio st ...

105.1 - Religious (FM translator for AM 1440) * WSRW 105.7 - Grand Rapids - Adult Contemporary * WJXQ 106.1 - Jackson/Lansing/Battle Creek - Mainstream Rock * WVFM 106.5 - Kalamazoo - Variety Hits * WKZO 106.9 - Kalamazoo - News/Talk (FM translator for AM 590) * WTNR 107.3 - Greenville/Grand Rapids - Country *

WRKR WRKR (107.7 FM, "The Rocker") is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format, consisting of classic album-oriented rock tracks from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Licensed to Portage, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1988. ...

107.7 - Portage/Battle Creek/Kalamazoo - Classic Rock AM radio stations that originate or can be heard over the air in Kalamazoo: * WKZO 590 - Kalamazoo - News/Talk - (FM translator at 106.9) * WAKV 980 - Allegan/Otsego - Adult Standards * WKMI 1360 - Kalamazoo - Talk *

1440 - Kalamazoo - Religious (daytime only) * WTOU 1660 - Kalamazoo - Urban Adult Contemporary

Transportation

Highways

* * * * north of downtown Kalamazoo * * * Kalamazoo is served by highways I-94, US 131, M-96 and M-343. It was on the original

Territorial Road A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

in Michigan of the 19th century, which started in Detroit and ran to Lake Michigan. Much of that, but not all, later became Old US 12—the "old" designation came about when I-94 was built parallel to it—and also was called ''Red Arrow Highway'' after a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

army division. The name "US 12" was shifted south to what once was US 112 between Detroit and New Buffalo. Some parts of Old US 12 outside of town, especially in

Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

and Berrien counties to the west, are still called Red Arrow Highway. The term "Old US 12" has faded from use.

Rail

* Kalamazoo has rail service provided by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

, with the station located downtown and combined with a newly renovated bus terminal. Kalamazoo serves as the hub and largest city in Amtrak's only high-speed corridor outside the Northeast, with service between Porter, Indiana and Albion, Michigan. * Kalamazoo also has a freight service provided by Grand Elk Railroad running north to Grand Rapids, Michigan and south to Elkhart, Indiana. The line they lease was a former Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad mainline.

Bus

* Bus service to and through the city is provided by

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgen ...

Indian Trails Indian Trails, Inc. is an inter-city bus company based in Owosso, Michigan, with offices in Romulus (in Metro Detroit) and Kalamazoo. History Indian Trails was founded in 1910 in Owosso as the Phillips-Taylor Livery Service, whose main busine ...

and the Kalamazoo trolley. * Public bus services within the city are provided by Metro Transit.

Air

* On the southern end of the city is the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (AZO), which offers flights on various airlines to hubs and leisure destinations. Construction of a new $36 million terminal was completed in 2011.

Other

The

Kal-Haven Trail The Kal-Haven Trail, formally known as the Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park, is a rail trail in the USA that originally ran between South Haven, Michigan, to a point just west of the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, where there is a trailh ...

, heavily used by cyclists, runners, walkers, and snowmobilers, extends to downtown Kalamazoo. It runs between South Haven, to a trailhead just west of Kalamazoo. Between that trailhead and South Haven the trail is run by Van Buren County, even the parts within Kalamazoo County. A trail pass is no longer required. The Kal-Haven is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetca ...

, built on the former

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad. The section east of the trailhead was opened in 2008 and extends to downtown Kalamazoo. It's known as the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail and is run by Kalamazoo County. No pass is required on that section.

In popular culture

Kalamazoo's name is a familiar reference in popular music, since its unique sound makes it a "great word for a lyric". Its use as

for a remote place is discussed above—"although when it comes to both

and Kalamazoo, most of that brag-worthy exotic allure is merely in their names". Nonetheless, numerous songs use the city's name in their song title or

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...

. Probably the most famous and first was "

(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo "(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo" is a #1 popular music, popular song recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1942. It was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and published in 1942 in music, 1942. It was featured in the musical film ''Orche ...

" (1942) by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with Tex Beneke. This #1 popular song was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. The performance was recreated with

Gene Morrison Orchestra In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ...

as the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and c ...

and the Nicholas Brothers (doing a memorable dance) in the 1942 movie '' Orchestra Wives''.Lyrics, Glenn Miller "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo". This was nominated: Best Music, Original Song in

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

)

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

(music),

Mack Gordon Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American composer and lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years b ...

(lyrics). See also

Boom Shot (song) Boom Shot is a 1942 song composed by Glenn Miller and Billy May for the 20th Century Fox movie ''Orchestra Wives'' starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. Billy May is credited as his first wife, Arletta May, because he had signed an excl ...

. See

15th Academy Awards The 15th Academy Awards was held in the Cocoanut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on March 4, 1943, honoring the films of 1942. The ceremony is most famous for the speech by Greer Garson; accepting the award for Best Actress, Gar ...

. At least a dozen (and many more versions) of "Kalamazoo" songs have been recorded. In chronological order others include: " I've Been Everywhere" by

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

(1962) (album of the same title) and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

(1996) '' Unchained''—reworked from the original 1959

Geoff Mack Albert Geoffrey McElhinney OAM (20 December 1922 – 21 July 2017), better known by his stage name Geoff Mack, was an Australian country singer, songwriter and aircraft mechanic. As a songwriter, he wrote the song " I've Been Everywhere" which ...

Australian-place-names version made popular by the singer Lucky Starr; " Down on the Corner" (1969) by

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

on their fourth studio album, '' Willy and the Poor Boys''—covered by a dozen other groups—though the reference is not to the city but to one of the "Kalamazoo" line of budget priced guitars manufactured by Gibson; "Kalamazoo" (1995) by Luna on '' Penthouse''; "Cold Rock a Party" (1997) by

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

on '' Bad As I Wanna B''; "Kalamazoo" a song by the rock trio Primus on the 1997 '' Brown Album''; " Top of the World" by Rascalz (1999) on '' Global Warning''; Andrew Peterson lost his luggage in Kalamazoo, according to the song "Isn't It Love" in his 2001 album,

Clear to Venus Clear to Venus is the third album by American singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, released in 2001. Background Peterson worked with Glenn Rosenstein, in the production of this album. Essential Records released the album on September 11, 2001. M ...

. "Kalamazoo", a song by

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was ...

on the 2004 EP ''

Super D ''Super D'' is an EP by Ben Folds, the last of 3 in a series released between ''Rockin' the Suburbs'' and ''Songs for Silverman''. It has three original songs and two covers: The Darkness' "Get Your Hands Off My Woman", and a live performance o ...

''; and "Kalamazoo" (2002) by

Mike Craver Mike Craver is an American composer and lyricist. He was born in North Carolina. Biography Mike Craver graduated from the University of North Carolina. He was also, for 12 years, a member of the band, Red Clay Ramblers. He has appeared in Sam Sh ...

on his album ''Shining Down''. The city was also mentioned in the opera '' Einstein on the Beach'' by Philip Glass and in the chorus of the song " Gotta Get Away" by

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing thei ...

, from their album '' Turn Blue'' ("I went from

San Berdoo San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

to Kalamazoo/Just to get away from you..."). Like Miller, the Creedence and Axton lyrics probably use the word "Kalamazoo" as an oblique reference to Gibson Guitars, which made various models named "

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropol ...

", all prominently adorned with the city's name as their origin. In 2011 rap artist

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followi ...

mentioned the city in the song "Higher Learning" on his album TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition. In 2014 Kalamazoo was mentioned again by Rittz in the song "Bounce" on his album '' Next to Nothing''. The "Kalamazoo" was one of several names of a railroad Handcar, and was produced by the

Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company The Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was a railroad-equipment manufacturer and, later, a materials-handling company that was founded in 1883 and closed in the 1990s. It made four passenger vehicles for use at the 1964 ...

. In Dr. Seuss's classic children's book '' Horton Hatches the Egg'', Horton the Elephant visits Kalamazoo while he is in the circus. Comedian and political commentator

Jordan Klepper Jordan Klepper (born March 9, 1979) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, television host, and actor. He began his career as a member of The Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade. From 2014 to 2017, he was a corres ...

was born in Kalamazoo.

Sister cities

The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan has three

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

. * Kingston, Jamaica * Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan *

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, St. Petersburg, Russia

References

External links

*
Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce

Discover Kalamazoo Michigan
* {{Authority control Cities in Kalamazoo County, Michigan County seats in Michigan Populated places established in 1831 1831 establishments in Michigan Territory