-57f 
 
 V 
 
litirc^ u 
 
Wiit Hure of Ealamajoo 
 
 A Pictorial Presentation of Its Many Ad- 
 vantages for Industrial, Commercial, 
 and Residential Life in 1912 
 
 Compiled by 
 
 THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 
 
 ^econlJ Cbition 
 
 Text by Louis H. Conger 
 
 Photos by G. W. Austin, Henry Dornbush, Louis H. Conger, and others 
 
 Halftones by Crescent Engraving Co. Paper by Rivervievv Coated Paper Co. 
 
 Cover stock by Kalamazoo Paper Co. Printed by Ihling Bros. Everard Co. 
 
 3n Halama^Do 
 

 K 
 
 Copyrighted 1912 by 
 THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 
 
 Kalamazoo, Michigan 
 
 D. of Do 
 IVIAY 23 1916 
 
What the Kalamazoo of 1 9 1 2 Actually Contains 
 
 ILL be shown so far as space permits in this modest pubHcation, 
 and on this account the historical side of Kalamazoo's develop- 
 ment, rich in interest, must be ignored. To set forth in just terms 
 the many factors contributing to a tremendous industrial and 
 commercial development, our transportation facilities and breadth 
 of market; to tell of our great educational institutions, our parks, our beau- 
 tiful homes and shaded streets, — would require an imposing volume. We 
 must content ourselves with a mere glimpse of Kalamazoo, and must leave 
 untouched vastly more than we have shown. 
 
 Kalamazoo invites the world at large to come and see the city, to inves- 
 tigate its matchless opportunities for commerce and industry, its superior 
 qualities as an abiding place. If you desire to share in the good things we 
 have or care for the surroundings of convenience and culture, come to Kala- 
 
 mazoo. 
 
 i-^'v- i 
 
Titus Bronson House, 1829 
 
 Main Street Before the War 
 
 Main Street in 1912 
 
 With the first ghmpse of Kalamazoo from the bluffs which surround it, 
 one scarcely wonders that Titus Bronson chose this beautiful spot for his home 
 when he first beheld it in 1829. Here, where the Portage enters the Kala- 
 mazoo, the narrow valleys widen into a vast natural amphitheater on whose 
 broad floor he the rich lands which later made Kalamazoo's fame world-wide. 
 An abundance of springs and little streams of purest water was there, and it 
 had long been a favorite camp for Indians, who called it "Ki-Kalamazoo, 
 or the "Place of the Boiling Pot." So within a stone's throw of the mound 
 which still mutely testifies to the similarly keen judgment of that mysterious 
 people, the Mound Builders, the first white man built his home. 
 
 Almost a century later, this grand stage with its setting of tall buildings 
 and busy factories displays a monument to pioneer forethought. The streams 
 they welcomed now help to operate giant paper mills, the same forest now 
 shades the man-made streets, while from the hillcrests imposing homes and 
 stately institutions of learning ever look down into the busy scenes of com- 
 merce and industry below. 
 
 4 
 
Ideal as is the site of Kalamazoo for its development into a beautiful 
 city, the greatest natural advantage lies in its geographical location. Michi- 
 gan has long enjoyed the prestige of being one of the most richly endow^ed 
 of the states in agricultural and mineral wealth, in this respect ranking far 
 above the seventh place in the Union to which its population entitles it. In- 
 dustrially it ranks as high, and its strategic position between the great East 
 West water and rail routes, has resulted in a tremendous development in 
 manufacturing in recent years. From a climatic viewpoint the state is singu- 
 
 G. R. & I. Depot 
 
 M. C. Depot 
 
 larly favored, and its girdle of fresh-water seas and myriads of smaller lakes 
 long ago made it a summer playground and the Mecca of the tourist and 
 sportsman. 
 
 These considerations proved their worth during the past decade when 
 the lure of the West caused an actual decrease of population in many of the 
 neighboring states. Michigan showed a seventeen per cent increase, while 
 the 1910 census figures showed a sixiy-ihree per cent increase in population 
 in Kalamazoo during the preceding ten years. 
 
 With nearly fifty thousand population in 1912, Kalamazoo justly ranks 
 as the fourth city in Michigan and the first city in the southwestern section 
 
 5 
 
South Burdick Street Panorama 
 
 of the state. Fifty miles northward toward Grand Rapids, fifty miles south- 
 ward to the state line, and forty miles westward to the shores of Lake Michi- 
 gan, the richest counties of Michigan, point with pride to Kalamazoo as their 
 metropolis. There is no city of equal importance to the eastward until 
 Detroit is reached, 1 44 miles away, Chicago being almost exactly the same 
 distance to the west. Kalamazoo's unquestioned supremacy in Southwestern 
 Michigan gives a broad market which is a potent factor in the present com- 
 mercial prosperity. A permanent guaranty of Kalamazoo's position in this 
 field is found in the importance its seven railroads give. The double-tracked 
 Michigan Central and the Grand Trunk give the best of east and west serv 
 ice. North and south, Kalamazoo has the Grand Rapids & Indiana and the 
 Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. The Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw, 
 the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago, and the South Haven Division of 
 the Michigan Central are the feeder lines into the territory not touched by the 
 four trunk lines. These roads radiate in ten directions from the city like the 
 spokes of a wheel, and the passenger service is such that residents everywhere 
 within a radius of fifty miles can conveniently spend the day in Kalamazoo 
 and return home in the evening. Twenty west-bound, 1 9 east-bound, 1 6 
 north-bound and 1 5 south-bound trains give the city a total of 7 1 passenger 
 trains daily. 
 
 As important as any of these is the main line of the Michigan United 
 Traction Company with through cars every hour as far east as Detroit. 
 Branches extend to Gull Lake and Lansing, and work is being pushed on the 
 extension northward to Grand Rapids. Kalamazoo is destined to be the 
 interurban center of Western Michigan as it already is for the railroads. 
 
 7 
 
With these great arteries into every section of Michigan and the sur- 
 rounding states, it is not surprising that Kalamazoo ranks high as a convention 
 city, if for no other reason than its accessibihty. Conventions are always 
 numerically successful here, for, whether the delegates come from east or west, 
 north or south, Kalamazoo is readily accessible to all. Kalamazoo's record is 
 a convention a week, and the city has become educated in the treatment and 
 
 Main and Rose Streets 
 
 handling of them. There is a magnificent array of splendid hotels; a long 
 list of excellent restaurants, and a goodly quantity of capacious lodging-houses. 
 It happens so often that we have acquired the art, to use a homely expression, 
 of "bulging out" and "shrinking up" to fit the size of the crowd. All have a 
 good time while they are here and go away happy and with pleasing recollec- 
 tions of their sojourn. 
 
 The first impression of the traveler entering Kalamazoo, as his train 
 threads through a labyrinth of freight yards and between huge factories, is of 
 a great inland metropolis, and the skyscrapers which appear as he nears the 
 center of the city confirm this aspect. Broad streets lined on either side with 
 business blocks lead from the depots to the heart of the city, only a short 
 distance away. 
 
 Finding a good hotel, that bugbear of the visitor in so many cities, is never 
 a problem in Kalamazoo. There are twenty-two hotels in the city, furnishing 
 accommodations to satisfy the most exacting. Three fire-proof hostelries of the 
 most modern type cater to the most exclusive trade, while the range of rates 
 provides comfortable quarters at even the most modest outlay. Eight of these 
 
 8 
 
hotels are on the American plan, and the remaining base their rates on the 
 European plan. Most of the latter maintain excellent cafes, in addition to 
 which there are twenty-seven restaurants in the down-town district. 
 
 Rickman Hotel 
 
 The feature which first impresses one is the aggressive commercialism of 
 the city. Fine stores in every line of mercantile business testify to the profit- 
 able trade which is enjoyed, and it is the marvel of the visitor that the city can 
 support such an array. One department store alone occupies a six-story and 
 basement building of 1 50,000 square feet of floor space, and there are other 
 
 9 
 
mercantile establishments quite as imposing. There are ten men's clothiers; 
 eight drygoods houses; twenty-nine shoe dealers; twenty-five druggists; fifteen 
 jewelers; one hundred eleven grocers; other lines are represented in equal 
 proportion. 
 
 Let it not be assumed that Kalamazoo alone supports this gigantic com- 
 mercial structure, unless it is conceded that a municipality of eight and a half 
 square miles and 50,000 inhab- 
 itants can take in all the terri- 
 tory within a radius of fifty 
 miles. Every town, every ham- 
 let in the ten counties in Kala 
 mazoo's immediate vicinity 
 pours a steady stream of pat- 
 ronage into the city, and the 
 actual buying population is 
 336,613 souls, according to the 
 1910 federal census. With 
 the exception of Battle Creek 
 with 25,627 inhabitants, and 
 
 Benton Harbor with 9,186, there are no towns in the entire section which 
 touch the 6,000 mark, and only eleven cities all told. 
 
 The map evidences clearly how this entire territory looks to Kalamazoo 
 as its market-place, for there is not a point within fifty miles where the residents 
 can not leave for the city for a day's trading and be home the same day. 
 From the east the Michigan Central and the Michigan United bring travelers 
 from Albion, Marshall and Battle Creek; the C. K. & S. from Hastings 
 and Barry County; the Lake Shore and the Grand Rapids & Indiana from 
 Plainwell, Allegan, and Allegan County; the South Haven division of the 
 Michigan Central touches a rich territory, while the main line of the Michigan 
 Central and the Fruit Belt extend into all the towns of Van Buren and Ber- 
 rien counties; the Grand Trunk swings through the territory just to the 
 eastward, while the Lake Shore takes care of Schoolcraft, Three Rivers, and 
 that section. The G. R. & I. to the south makes the eleventh line radiating 
 from Kalamazoo as a center. 
 
 Measured in terms of the city's own resources, Kalamazoo's future great- 
 ness is assured, but doubtless the one outside contributing factor in Kalama- 
 zoo s tremendous growth is the richness of the surrounding country — a reservoir 
 of agricultural wealth which has its outlet in Kalamazoo, the metropolis and 
 market-place. 
 
 10 
 
^^^na f-M 'i I 
 
 Kalamazoo-City Savings Bank 
 
 The banks of the city may be considered the guardians of its people's 
 exchequer, and by banking methods which are universally regarded as pro- 
 gressive and yet ever reliable, those of Kalamazoo have shared and contributed 
 to the city's prosperity in no small measure. Through a series of consolidations 
 during recent years, Kalamazoo now^ has four powerful banking institutions^ 
 two under national and two under state charters, and there has never been 
 a failure among them. Their combined capital and surplus amounts to 
 $1,441 ,000, and their combined resources to more than ten millions of dollars, 
 as shown by the following table: 
 
 Bank Capital Surplus Resources 
 
 Kalamazoo-City Savmgs Bank. . . .$300,000 $187,000 $4,085,000 
 
 First National 300,000 1 60.000 2,958,000 
 
 Kalamazoo National 200,000 1 1 8,000 2,558,000 
 
 Home Savings 100,000 76,000 1,162,000 
 
 $900,000 $541 ,000 $10,763,000 
 
 Three of these banks possess handsome homes of the most modern type, 
 that of the Kalamazoo National being an eight-story fire-proof structure on 
 the corner of Main and Burdick Streets. The upper stories are occupied as 
 offices by the various professional men of the city. Kalamazoo-City Savings 
 Bank is located at Main and Portage Streets, where has been erected a 
 banking house second to none in this section. It is built of marble along 
 classic lines, and is used exclusively for banking purposes. The Home 
 Savings Bank is well housed in a handsome building at 1 15 West Main 
 
 11 
 
Street, while the First National Bank is occupying temporary quarters during 
 the erection of a magnificent building on the corner opposite the Kalamazoo 
 National Bank Building. 
 
 The clearings through these banks furnish one of the most surprising 
 instances of Kalamazoo's growth. Despite the consolidation of two of the 
 largest banks, the clearings increased nearly 300 per cent in the decade pre- 
 ceding 1911, when the clearings were $35,664,276. The first five months 
 of 1912 show an increase of 15 per cent over those of the preceding year 
 until May 1st, when the First National and the Michigan National were 
 consoHdated under the charter of the First National Bank. 
 
 Month 1911 1912 
 
 January $3,059,482 $3,351,364 
 
 February 2,486,789 2,831,887 
 
 March 3,028.908 3,165,576 
 
 April 2,773,914 3,434,856 
 
 May 3,299,249 3,292,287* 
 
 ^Result of consolidation 
 
 Beyond question, the greatest factor in Kalamazoo's growth and pros- 
 perity has been its tremendous industrial growth and the phenomenal success 
 of practically all the manufacturing enterprises of the city during the past 
 decade. In that period, Kalamazoo's investment in factories has been more 
 than tripled and most of them are in the "gilt-edged" class as dividend pay- 
 ers. It is the world's center of the book paper-making industry, with a host 
 of attendant industries; iron, steel, and sheet metal working industries are of 
 greatest importance; and in diversity of industry Kalamazoo ranks first in the 
 state of Michigan. 
 
 Bryant Paper Co.— One of the Largest Book Mills in the World 
 
 13 
 
If Kalamazoo had only a few of these "super-successful" industries, it 
 might be reasonable to assign their establishment here to accident. But it 
 cannot be deemed possible that so many distinctly different classes of man- 
 ufacturing should have located in the city, all beginning m a modest way 
 and expanding as time went on into notably prosperous concerns, save on 
 the hypothesis that Kalamazoo furnishes some special advantages to the 
 manufacturer. In its superb shipping facilities, freedom from industrial 
 troubles, cheap electric power, and low tax rates is found the answer. 
 
 The transportation facilities afforded by Kalamazoo's seven railroads 
 and electric lines cannot be excelled, furnishing as they do the speediest 
 
 General Gas Light Company 
 
 service into every section of the country. Recognizing Kalamazoo's rapid 
 growth industrially, the railroads have made every effort to keep pace with 
 it in their own facilities, and in the improvements now under way are pre- 
 paring to handle the traffic of the Greater Kalamazoo soon to be. 
 
 Part of this facility is due to the fact that Kalamazoo has not, and by 
 the very nature of things can never have a terminal problem. Entering and 
 leaving the city by different routes, the various roads each have ample room 
 for their freight yards, while the existence of a common focus for all the center 
 of the city enables rapid handling from one road to another. So convenient 
 is this layout that it seems to have been planned by one master-engineer who 
 sought only the perfection of symmetry. Through it is handled annually two 
 million tons of traffic, the second largest of the cities of Michigan. 
 
 Though the shortest of the seven lines, the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Sagi- 
 naw ranks high as a terminal road, and has its sidings into many of the largest 
 plants. The Michigan Central, whose double-track main line bisects the city 
 east to west, has tremendous yards on both sides of the river and has just 
 expended $300,000 in the erection of new freight depots and other shipping 
 
 14 
 
conveniences. The Grand Rapids & Indiana, the Pennsylvania's greatest 
 north and south feeder, has recently spent an equal amount, and maintains a 
 branch freighthouse for the South Side industries in addition to its main ter- 
 minal. The Grand Trunk Railway has like accommodations, and though 
 but recently entering the city from its main line six miles south, it is securing a 
 handsome business. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern completes the list 
 of these roads which have been making extensive additions to their terminals, 
 and in addition to the erection of a new down-town freight depot, has ex- 
 pended $200,000 in the development of new yards in the southern part of the 
 city. 
 
 The South Haven Division of the Michigan Central and the Kalamazoo, 
 Lake Shore & Chicago afford quick service by the rail and water route to 
 Chicago and the West. Immense quantities of grapes, peaches, and small 
 fruits are handled by them, although their main business is a heavy passenger 
 traffic. The Michigan United Traction Company handles a large package 
 express business with all cities as far east as Detroit. 
 
 The quality of labor procurable in Kalamazoo is of the highest grade 
 and the most reliable in the country. There are many reasons for this, the 
 chief of them being the excellent living conditions and other residential ad- 
 vantages, the good scale of wages paid and the cordial relations existing 
 between employers and employed. Labor troubles are almost unknown in 
 
 15 
 
1. Kalamazoo Paper Company. 2. Standard Paper Company. 3. Hawthorne Paper Company. 
 
 4. Riverview Coated Paper Company 
 
 16 
 
Kalamazoo. Male help averages about $2.50 per day, while female labor is 
 paid an average of $1 .29. Nearly 9,000 men are employed and more than 
 3,000 women, giving an average of one in every four a bread winner. 
 
 The star-like arrangement of the railroads, reaching through practically 
 every district of the city, prevents any congestion of manufacturing industries, 
 and there is an abundance of sites available for new industries. Locations 
 with sidings can be had without increased outlay for these advantages, and the 
 city tax rate of one per cent as fixed by charter provision does not prove 
 onerous. 
 
 King Paper Company 
 
 It is under these conditions that industrial progress has been such that 
 Kalamazoo now boasts of two hundred thirt}) factories of such proportions 
 as to receive the annual inspection of the State Bureau of Labor. Sixteen 
 millions of dollars are invested in these industries, paper mills and allied 
 branches, constituting the largest single classification. Iron and steel working 
 industries rank next. The remaining industries are so varied that the enumera- 
 tion of but few must suffice. There are three factories manufacturing gas 
 lights, two making regalia and lodge supplies, two folding boats, three making 
 vehicles, two making fishing rods and sporting goods; mandolins, corsets, pills 
 and pharmaceutical supplies, water heaters, automobiles, caskets, electric 
 signs, — an endless variety makes up an imposing list. 
 
 The value of products in 1 909, according to Government Census Report, 
 was $18,000,000, an increase of 10 per cent a year, which for 1912 would 
 give an annual production m excess of $24,000,000. 
 
 The manufacture of paper is Kalamazoo's chief industry, there being 
 twelve large mills in the city and ten more in the vicinity which are controlled 
 largely by Kalamazoo capital. The twelve local mills are capitalized at 
 nearly $4,000,000, but this does not in the least represent the book value of 
 their stocks, which are in no instance less than one and one-half times and 
 in some, seven times the capitalization. Book and other high-grade papers are 
 the chief product, and one mill alone has a daily capacity of 250 tons. All 
 
 17 
 
Kalamazoo Stove Gonipany 
 
 told, there are 28 machines in the twelve plants, 30 coating machines, and 
 the combined daily output is 1 ,200 tons. A visit to one of Kalamazoo's 
 great mills will prove intensely interesting to the lay visitor. 
 
 Allied paper industries follow closely in extent and importance, there 
 being 24 of considerable size. Two of America's seven playing card fac- 
 tories are located here, and there are envelope, paper box, label, stationery, 
 and loose-leaf binder firms of large size. The printing trades are well repre- 
 sented, their output including calendars, labels, circulars, and office supplies 
 of every description. Kalamazoo is a city of unequaled advantages for all 
 industries employing paper as a raw material, and the representation of these 
 industries is increasing annually. 
 
 Forty concerns are listed under the metal working industries, some of 
 their more important products being engines, boilers, motors, steel springs, 
 railway supplies, auto accessories of all kinds, enameled tanks, gas lamps and 
 gas appliances, trolley wheels, tools, and a multitude of minor products. 
 Kalamazoo has the largest "Direct to Consumer" stove works in the world. 
 Kalamazoo's products have given the city a trade name for quality^ not only 
 throughout the United States, but over the entire world. 
 
 Not only is Kalamazoo well equipped in public utilities, but the quality of 
 service rendered by them is of the highest class. With an abundance of 
 cheap electric power, an up-to-date gas system, with nearly a hundred miles 
 of main, a local telephone system with 6,500 phones in operation, and an 
 
 18 
 
extensive system of urban car lines, Kalamazoo is better taken care of in these 
 respects than many cities of much greater population. The local lines of the 
 Michigan United Traction Company are eleven in number and furnish ade- 
 quate service to every section of the city. The company also maintains a 
 handsome amusement park at Oakwood, just outside the city. 
 
 Municipally owned water and light plants supply Kalamazoo with these 
 necessities, and an excellent out-of-politics fire department is maintained. A 
 central and five other fire stations house modern equipment for fire fighting 
 and the force of fifty men is on duty at all times. The police force numbers 
 dforty men and a new $35,000 police station is being erected on a convenient 
 
 Lee & Cady Warehouse 
 
 down town site. Kalamazoo is at present governed by a Mayor and Board of 
 -Aldermen, but a more effective scheme is being worked out by a Charter 
 Commission elected by the voters under the Home Rule Act of Michigan. 
 Their charter will be completed and presented to the electorate during 1912. 
 
 Four express companies maintain offices in Kalamazoo and furnish serv- 
 ice scarcely equaled in any section of the Middle West. The enormous ton- 
 nages of celery bring them millions of dollars in a year, in addition to that 
 furnished by the manufacturers, and their facilities here are in keeping with 
 the amount of business which they handle. Both Telegraph Companies are 
 represented, and the Michigan State Telephone Company and the Independ- 
 ent companies furnish good long distance service. 
 
 Cheap electric power in large quantities is at hand in Kalamazoo through 
 the development of water-powers on the Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, and 
 Au Sable Rivers. These are controlled by the Commonwealth Power Com- 
 pany, which maintains a 6,000 H. P. steam plant in Kalamazoo to reinforce 
 the 25,000 H. P. generated at the dams in the immediate vicinity. Rates for 
 power run as low as one cent per K. W. hour, and with the completion of long 
 distance transmission lines, any quantity will be available. 
 
 19 
 
Waterworks and Fire Stations 
 
 20 
 
Western Michigan Normal School 
 
 joints of Snteregt 
 
 KALAMAZOO STATE HOSPITAL 
 
 WEST MICHIGAN NORMAL 
 SCHOOL 
 
 KALAMAZOO COLLEGE 
 
 KALAMAZOO COUNTRY CLUB 
 
 OAKWOOD PARK 
 
 WHITE'S LAKE 
 
 Take Oakland Drive Cars 
 
 NAZARETH ACADEMY 
 Out Gull Road 
 
 BRONSON PARK 
 Center of City 
 
 MILHAM PARK 
 Out Portage Street 
 
 SHERWOOD PARK 
 East Main Street 
 
 CELERY FIELDS 
 South Burdick Street 
 West North Street 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH 
 Kalamazoo Ave. and Park Street 
 
 GULL LAKE 
 M. U. T. Cars 
 
 RIVERVIEW BASEBALL PARK 
 
 RECREATION PARK, TRACK. 
 AND FAIR GROUNDS 
 
 Take Washington Ave. Cars 
 
 REGALIA FACTORIES 
 
 STOVE FACTORY 
 
 GAS LAMP FACTORIES 
 
 In various sections of the city 
 
 MANDOLIN FACTORY 
 
 FISHING ROD FACTORY 
 
 PAPER MILLS 
 
 PLAYING CARD FACTORIES 
 
 PEPPERMINT FARMS 
 Out Ravine Road 
 
 GRAPE VINEYARDS 
 
 Southwest of city 
 
 BEAUTIFUL DRIVES 
 
 To neighboring lakes in every direction 
 
 21 
 
Henderson Park 
 A Five-Year Old Residence Addition 
 
 Ealamajoo in a i^utsljell 
 
 KALAMAZOO 
 
 was settled in 1829, incorporated as a village in 1853, and as a city in 
 1884, when the population was about 15,000. The federal census of 1900 
 showed 24,404 inhabitants, and in 1910, 39,437, an increase of more than 
 63 per cent in ten years. On this basis of growth, the Kalamazoo of 1912 
 has nearly 
 
 50,000 POPULATION. 
 
 Its eight and a half square miles of area is divided into five wards, and the 
 property is assessed on the 60 per cent basis at $24,000,000. The city 
 charter allows as a maximum the 
 
 ONE PER CENT TAX RATE, 
 
 which provides, among other things, for the maintenance of a police force of 
 forty men and fifty firemen in six fully equipped fire stations. There are 22 
 
 miles of brick and as- 
 phalt pavement and 
 1 1 8 miles of streets 
 otherwise improved. 
 
 ABSOLUTELY 
 PURE WATER 
 
 is furnished by a $500,- 
 G"" Lake QOO municipal water- 
 
 works of 7,500,000 gallons' daily capacity, with three new water towers and 
 75 miles of mains; there are 60 miles or sanitary sewers and 18 miles of 
 storm sewers. 
 
 11 
 
Henderson-Ames Co 
 
 West Main Street 
 
 New Y. M. C. A. 
 
 CITY HOSPITALS 
 
 are maintained both for tubercular and contagious diseases, two other hos- 
 pitals under other auspices, and two sanitariums. The birth rate is 20. 1 2 and 
 the death rate 1 1.57 per cent. 
 
 SEVEN CITY PARKS 
 
 include more than 85 acres, and are reinforced by 255 acres of parking sur- 
 rounding the state hospital, normal, and other educational institutions. Several 
 well-equipped playgrounds are maintained, and boulevards are being developed 
 along a comprehensive plan, which includes beautifying the river front. 
 
 MODERN SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 with central and three branch high schools; manual training and vocational 
 schools; eleven grade schools; athletic fields and playgrounds in connection; 
 220 teachers, 6,300 students. Two Holland parochial schools. 
 
 CATHOLIC INSTITU- 
 TIONS 
 
 include five parochial schools, 
 high school for both sexes in 
 Gibbons' Hall; Le Fevre In- 
 stitute; Nazareth Academy 
 for girls; Barbour Hall for 
 boys; St. Anthony's School 
 for the feeble minded, and 
 Borgess Hospital. 
 
 Van Deusen Library 
 
 23 
 
Business Distrli 
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION 
 
 is at hand in Kalamazoo College, the oldest in Michigan, and the Western 
 State Normal School, a new million-dollar institution. There are three busi- 
 ness colleges and two art schools. The public library, with five branches, and 
 the Ladies' Library Association supply the public. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES 
 
 are centered in 42 churches and five missions, representing every denomina- 
 tion; Y. M. C. A. carries on its work in a $100,000 building; flourishing 
 Y. W. C. A.; organized bureau of charities. Not a "slum" or tenement dis- 
 trict in the city. 
 
 48 FRATERNAL ORDERS 
 
 are represented, several owning imposing homes of their own; three down- 
 town clubs, two up-to-date country clubs; a legion of patriotic and social 
 organizations; two companies of militia ownmg $70,000 armory. 
 
 456 LAKES 
 
 within a radius of 50 miles, spring-fed and swarming with bass and other 
 game fish; innumerable trout streams furnish keenest sport; summer resorts 
 loo numerous for mention. 
 
 24 
 
thoiise Tower 
 
 SPORTING FEATURES 
 
 of Kalamazoo life are the annual harness meetings of the Grand Circuit, the 
 Great Western and the Shortship Circuits; Southern Michigan League Base- 
 ball ; amateur intercollegiate and interscholastic sports of all sorts ; ice yachting, 
 skating, skeeing, and all winter sports are popular. 
 
 TWENTY-TWO HOTELS 
 
 render unexcelled service at various prices; 27 restaurants; two first-class and 
 two vaudeville theaters; numerous vaudettes; fine amusement park; dozens of 
 resorts nearby. 
 
 SEVEN RAILROADS 
 
 Michigan Central main line and South Haven division; Lake Shore & Michi- 
 gan Southern; Grand Rapids & Indiana; Grand Trunk Railways; Chicago, 
 Kalamazoo & Saginaw; Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago. Seventy-five 
 passenger trains leave our five depots daily and two million tons of freight 
 are handled annually in eleven freight depots. 
 
 FAST ELECTRIC SERVICE 
 
 to the neighboring resorts and all cities as far east as Detroit, is furnished by 
 the Michigan United Traction Company, and to every part of the city by 
 
 25 
 
The South Side — Ten Years Ago a Farm 
 
 eleven lines, aggregating 25 miles. Interurbans to the west and north are 
 under construction. 
 
 ELECTRIC POWER 
 
 generated at Kalamazoo River dams of the Commonwealth Electric Com- 
 pany, is furnished as cheap as 1 cent per K. W. hour; 25,000 H. P. alter- 
 nating current available; 6,000 H. P. steam plant for emergencies. 
 
 OTHER PUBLIC UTILITIES 
 
 are well developed: gas company with modern plant and 75 miles of mains; 
 four express companies, two telegraph lines, two L. D. telephone companies, 
 6,500 local phones; two daily newspapers, seven weeklies, four monthlies. 
 
 FOUR BANKS, 
 
 two under state and two under federal 
 
 Kalamazoo College 
 
 com- 
 
 bankmg laws, have a 
 bmed capital and surplus o 
 $1,441,000, and resources of 
 $17,000,000. Not a smgle 
 failure of national or state 
 banks in Kalamazoo on record. 
 Bank clearings in 191 1 were 
 $35,664,276. Three building 
 and loan associations. Postal 
 receipts, 1911, $250,000; 
 money-order business more than 
 a million ; 1 substations, 34 
 carriers, 12 rural routes. 
 
 26 
 
Seminary Buildings 
 
 MERCANTILE INTERESTS 
 
 are tremendously prosperous with a market among a buying population of 
 300,000 ; 1 26 incorporated firms, many partnerships ; 1 1 1 grocers, 40 meat 
 dealers, 25 drug stores. 
 
 JOBBERS AND WHOLESALERS 
 
 rank Kalamazoo as the center of Southwestern Michigan, there being two 
 grocers, four paper houses, four fruit jobbers, thirty celery and produce job- 
 bers, two grain firms. Large firms deal in hardware, sporting goods, fishing 
 tackle. 
 
 230 STATE-INSPECTED FACTORIES 
 
 employ a total of 1 1 ,000 hands, with an aggregate daily 
 pay-roll of $25,000; 8,000 males at $2.41 per day and 
 3,000 females at $1.24 per 
 day average. $16,000,000 in- 
 vested in local factories and 
 annual output is valued at 
 $26,000,000. 
 
 Recreation Park Fair GrojaJs 
 
 27 
 
Kalamazoo River at Gull Street 
 Bronson Park— A Downtown breathing Spot 
 
 28 
 
Other things being equal, we are satisfied that the man seeking a home, 
 with a business career in mind, will not fail to appreciate the value that beauty 
 gives to a city in which to live and prosecute any line of undertaking. We 
 who reside here think that as a beautiful city, Kalamazoo stands without a 
 parallel, for one of her size, in the United States. There are many beautiful 
 parks scattered in the various parts of the city, well cared for at all times. 
 Seven of these, covering more than 85 acres, are maintained by the city. 
 The various state and educational insti- 
 tutions within the city add 225 acres 
 more. Development of connecting bou- 
 levards and parkways is being followed 
 out along a comprehensive plan, which 
 is being pushed to completion by an 
 energetic Park Commission. The first 
 stretch of this boulevard will soon be 
 under construction, connecting the 
 various parks of the south and south- 
 western section of the city. Play- 
 grounds are maintained throughout the 
 summer season under the direction of 
 the Board of Education, Kalamazoo being one of the first cities of the West 
 to take up this phase of municipal development. 
 
 After all it must be accepted that there is no product of civilization so 
 precious as the home. A city that by inspiration calls into existence HOMES, 
 with their attending sacredness, cleanliness and comforts, is greater than a 
 city producing only wares and merchandise; is grander than a city made 
 up of banks and stock exchanges; is more to be lauded than a city of many 
 roads and busy traffic. Kalamazoo is peculiarly a city of homes, — homes 
 varying in cost from the modest cottage of the laborer to the palatial house 
 of the wealthy manufacturer. The principal residential streets are lined on 
 both sides with rows of gigantic oaks, elms, or maples and the citizens take 
 such pride in keepmg up their lawns and gardens that the whole city becomes 
 as a beautiful park. Bright, cheerful places of residence located on broad 
 streets and shady avenues, extending in every direction, make a pleasing 
 impression on the eye. There are no "slums" in Kalamazoo; no dark can- 
 yons of streets in all its eight square miles. While these characteristics have 
 more to do with the esthetic nature of the people than with the material 
 interests, their value cannot be depreciated in considering why Kalamazoo 
 is a good town in which to live. 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
Borgess Hospital 
 
 Bronson Hospital 
 
 One thing of primary importance is the general health of a city; Michi- 
 gan's climate is too well known to require any detailed description. Kala- 
 mazoo is situated in one of its most beautiful sections, and the summer and 
 winter alike are enjoyable. Nowhere is purer water found than is furnished 
 in Kalamazoo; a competent force of officials are constantly on the alert to 
 safeguard the public health. A Tuberculosis Sanitarium and a Contagious 
 Disease Hospital are among the modern conveniences maintained by the city. 
 There are two excellent hospitals and numerous private sanitariums, while 
 on the outskirts of the city is located the Kalamazoo State Hospital, a small 
 city in itself. More than 2,000 patients are housed here with a small army 
 of doctors, nurses, etc., in attendance. 
 
 There is a third consideration in seeking a home — a consideration which is 
 held in higher esteem in this country than any other in the world, and that 
 is the one of educational facilities. In nothing is Kalamazoo richer, more 
 replete or more widely influential than in her numerous and excellent schools 
 and colleges. 
 
 31 
 
New Central High School 
 
 Kalamazoo's public school system mcludes a central and two branch 
 high schools, a manual training school and a vocational or continuation school. 
 1912 will witness the completion of a new $200,000 high school building. 
 Distributed advantageously in every part of the city are eleven fine grade 
 schools, the combined value of the public school properties exceeding a million 
 dollars. Nearly 7,000 students are in attendance and a corps of 220 teachers 
 is employed. 
 
 Of the five parochial schools, two are maintained by the Holland churches 
 and the remainder are under Catholic auspices. Gibbons' Hall, the boys' 
 high school of this denomination, offers business courses and collegiate work 
 in addition to the regular high school curriculum, while the same courses for 
 young ladies are provided at LeFevre Institute. Just outside the city in a 
 beautiful park stands Nazareth Academy, a boarding school for girls con- 
 
 
 
 '*m^- 
 
 Nazareth Academy 
 
 32 
 
ducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Though estabhshed only 1 5 years ago, 
 the Academy has been very successful and there are several hundred students 
 m attendance. Barbour Hall, a boarding-school for little boys under the same 
 auspices occupies a part of 
 the same grounds, which are 
 more than 300 acres in ex- 
 tent. Thirty-five acres are 
 parking, and there is a pretty 
 lake and other surroundings 
 of great natural beauty, 
 which make the institution 
 well worthy of a visit. 
 
 Kalamazoo has two 
 schools where feeble-minded East Avenue Schooi 
 
 children may receive the kindly attention they so much need and where they 
 are taught the simple things they are capable of learning. The Wilbur Home 
 is located on the western edge of the city, while St. Anthony's Home, con- 
 ducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is to the eastward on the Comstock road. 
 
 Milham Park 
 
 33 
 
Western Michigan Normal School 
 
 Dominating every vista toward the western end of the city by reason of 
 its commanding location overlooking the valley, the Western Michigan Normal 
 School is Kalamazoo's greatest institution from the architectural as well as 
 the educational standpoint. The great sweep of its eastern front, with its 
 grand porticos of classic pillars, and the panorama of the city spread before, 
 combine to form an impression never-to-be-forgotten by those who behold it. 
 The Normal was established by the state in 1904 and last year had a total 
 enrollment of more than 1 ,200 students. A thoroughly trained faculty is in 
 charge of the courses of instruction, which include manual training, domestic 
 art and science, music, kindergarten, and public school art. Nearly a thousand 
 students annually attend the summer sessions, and the expense in securing an 
 education here is extremely moderate. 
 
 Less than a half mile distant is Kalamazoo College, picturesquely sit- 
 uated among the fine old trees on College Hill and surrounded by a park 
 of 27 acres. In front lies a small lake, the scene of many student pranks, 
 and the college athletic field, with football gridiron, ball diamond, cinder 
 track, and tennis court. A fine gymnasium is being erected during the summer 
 
 34 
 
Kalamazoo College Campus 
 
 vacation. Kalamazoo College is the oldest in the state, and offers the com- 
 plete college courses of study under a faculty of acknowledged prominence. 
 Dormitory accommodations are provided for both sexes, and the college is 
 conducted under the auspices of the Baptist denomination. 
 
 Parsons' Business College 
 
 Parsons' Business College heads the list of three institutions of this char- 
 acter in Kalamazoo, and is unusually well located in the most beautiful resi- 
 dence section of the city, just outside the business district. Its reputation is 
 well established and its courses so thorough that the graduates find positions 
 without difficulty. Students of mechanical and architectural drawing and 
 commercial art find in Lockwood's Art School one of the best known insti- 
 tutions of its class in the Central West. 
 
 No father or mother, seeking a home city in which to rear a family, can 
 ignore the richness of Kalamazoo's endowment in these educational institutions. 
 It is desirable that our children have every advantage of higher education, but 
 to be so situated that these advantages can be enjoyed without depriving them 
 of that precious home influence, — that is Kalamazoo's blessed opportunity. 
 
 35 
 
36 
 
As might be expected in a center of education and culture, religious 
 activity fills a vital place in Kalamazoo's social fabric, and every denomination 
 is represented by powerful churches. The broad viewpoint of the leading 
 divines has had the happy 
 result of cementing cordial 
 relationships, despite creedal 
 differences, and as far as 
 church relations are con- 
 cerned, we have in Kala- 
 mazoo a foretaste of "peace 
 on earth and good-will 
 among men." Up-to-date 
 methods of church work are 
 employed, several of the 
 churches have handsome 
 guild houses in connection, 
 one serves an evening meal 
 to working girls, and resuTts L"'*'"" ^''^''''' Association 
 
 are secured which demonstrates the wisdom of a practical handling of the 
 church problems. 
 
 Successful work is carried along by the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion, which has just occupied a new $100,000 home built by popular sub- 
 scription to replace one burned a year ago. Two floors are given over entirely 
 to dormitories, while other floors are used for gymnasium, swimming pool, 
 and similar activities common to such organizations. The Young Women s 
 Christian Association is conducting a similar work, and is contemplating the 
 erection of a fine building on property recently purchased in the heart of the 
 business district. 
 
 In addition to the care which churches and fraternal orders give to needy 
 and helpless members, an organized bureau of charities is conducted by the 
 Civic Improvement League, employing a professional secretary of wide ex- 
 perience. Visiting nurses are maintained, and a novel feature is a travelling 
 agent of the Savings Fund department. A woodyard is operated during the 
 winter months to furnish work for the unemployed. The Salvation Army 
 and kindred organizations carry on a similar work. 
 
 37 
 
Kalamazoo State Hospital 
 
 38 
 
Oakwood Park 
 
 Representing as it does every diverse interest of the city, the Commercial 
 Club stands foremost in the list of Kalamazoo's organizations and has done 
 much in its avowed purpose "to promote the civic, industrial, and commercial 
 interests of Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan". It was organized 
 in 1 904, now has a large and influential membership, and carries on its work 
 mainly through committees. A paid secretary and assistant are in charge of 
 its work and downtown offices are maintained where meetings of all "booster" 
 organizations are held. The club's slogan of "In Kalamazoo We Do" is 
 known everywhere. 
 
 Organizations without number are at work in special fields, the Anti- 
 Tuberculosis Association cind the Civic Improvement Association among the 
 foremost. Institutions such as the Boys' Farm and the Children's Home (for 
 girls) are conducted by efficient boards. 
 
 Physicians of the city are organized in the Academy of Medicine, which 
 has handsome quarters in the public library and a permanent endowment as 
 well. Other organizations of fellowship and cooperation exist among the law- 
 yers, dentists, various classes of merchants, forming a closely united framework 
 for the business life of the city. 
 
 % 39 
 
Presbyterian Church 
 
 Library 
 
 Park Club 
 
 It must not be inferred that Kalamazoo is at all lacking in that other 
 metropolitan facility, the "Club". Three organizations of purely social char- 
 acter maintain well equipped homes in the business district, the Park Club 
 being the most pretentious and numbering among its members many of the 
 most well-to-do residents. Practically all the fraternal orders are represented 
 in Kalamazoo, and many of them have fine clubrooms. Notably commodious 
 are the club houses owned by the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, a $1 00,000 
 temple is under way for the Masonic bodies, and the Odd Fellows are prepar- 
 ing to build. 
 
 Pythian Castle 
 
 40 
 
White's Lake and Kalamazoo Country Club 
 
 Kalamazoo is fortunate in having two finely equipped country clubs, 
 the Kalamazoo Country Club being located on beautiful White's Lake, on 
 the southwesterly outskirts of the city. Golf and tennis are the summer sports, 
 while tobogganing, skeeing and kindred amusements are popular during the 
 winter months. The Gull Lake Country Club, while less accessible, has a 
 membership made up almost entirely of Kalamazoo people with summer homes 
 along that beautiful expanse of water, and boasts of a fine golf course. 
 
 The Gull Lake Club has just completed an $18,000 clubhouse; that of 
 the Kalamazoo Club cost about $25,000; and every modern feature of club 
 life is provided. The golf courses are unrivalled in scenic beauties, and are 
 maintained under the direction of professionals of national fame. 
 
 Gull Lake from the Country Club 
 
 41 
 
Lover's Lane at Gull Lake 
 
 In fact, amusement of any description is not hard to find in and about 
 Kalamazoo, the many theaters, clubs, and varied social life making the winter 
 a lively season. But it is in the warm months that Kalamazoo is in her glory 
 as an amusement center. Almost half a thousand lakes within a radius of 
 fifty miles, 1 1 7 within Kalamazoo County itself, all of them spring-fed and 
 teeming with game fish, — streams stocked with speckled beauties, a veritable 
 paradise for the sportsman. All the life of the summer resort along the larger 
 lakes, with their hotels, pavilions, and rows of cottages; "the simple life" on 
 those of smaller size or less accessible. Michigan in Summer, — a phrase 
 brimful of the happiness of "real" living. 
 
 It would be impossible to undertake here an enumeration of the attrac- 
 tions and distractions at the convenience of the residents of Kalamazoo; just 
 a few in passing : 
 
 Inter-Collegiate sports of all sorts, foot ball, base ball, track tennis and 
 basket ball, provide a continuous program the year round. Golf and tennis 
 at the Country Clubs. 
 
 42 
 
Grand Circuit Meeting 
 
 at Recreation Park 
 
 League Base Ball at Riverview Park between teams of the Southern 
 Michigan Association, in which Kalamazoo won the pennant in 1910 and 
 
 1911. 
 
 The Grand Circuit, Great Western, Michigan Shortship, and Interstate 
 Fair harness races; matinee races winter and summer by Kalamazoo Driving 
 Club members. 
 
 This is also a great section for stock raising, and the lovers of horseflesh 
 are found m as great numbers as in Old Kaintuck. Here the breeding and 
 training of harness horses is the amusement of every ruralist as well as the 
 city resident, and the popularity of the harness sport is evidenced by the hold- 
 mg of four meetmgs of the Grand Circuit in this state, as well as countless 
 paces at fairs and lesser circuits. 
 
 Varied farm products and the many others of every description form the 
 bulk of exhibits at the annual Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana 
 Inter-State Fair, which attracts immense crowds to the Fair Grounds at 
 Recreation Park during early autumn. 
 
 43 
 
There was a time when the mere mention of Kalamazoo brought to its 
 hearers almost instantly the thought "Celery Town." The city's fame in 
 the growth of this succulent product of the garden was world-wide, and while 
 other sections are now in the field as heavy producers, "Kalamazoo Celery" 
 means the best on the market. During the season which extends from August 
 1 st to December 1 st, the shipments of celery alone average seventy tons a day, 
 and a mark of 203 tons in a single day has been reached. These shipments 
 are entirely by express, and the charges amount to double the value of the 
 celery which is more than a million dollars. There are more than 500 acres 
 of celery land in the city, tilled by the hardy Dutch stock seasoned by cen- 
 turies of intensive farming. 
 
 Peppermint is another crop in which Kalamazoo leads the world, 60 
 per cent of the production of peppermint oil being made in a single factory 
 in Kalamazoo. 
 
 Garden truck of every sort, gensing and all varieties of small fruits, are 
 raised in the immediate vicinity, and the value of the crops runs into many 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 *'***°99)VB*9'VWS!*'f|> 
 
 
 "Celery 
 Town" 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
New State Armory 
 
 The story of Kalamazoo has been but illy told when its past and present 
 attainments alone have been recounted. The feature of this fast growing city 
 presents in itself an extended and inspiring theme ; a fitting sequel to this story 
 of present day achievement. In the list of public improvements for which 
 Kalamazoo is now preparing, are the following : The development of a com- 
 plete park and boulevard system, the elevation of all railroad lines through 
 the city and the erection of a union depot; the completion of a new municipal 
 electric lighting plant and the installation of ornamental lighting standards 
 in the busmess district; several new bridges across the river and the parking 
 of its banks through the city. The erection of a combmed city hall, county 
 building and municipal auditorium. Work is being pushed along these lines 
 and with the spirit characteristic of Kalamazoo the completion of these will 
 mark the inauguration of still more movements for municipal advancement. 
 
 Proposed Combination Courthouse and City Hall 
 
 45 
 
When one contemplates Kalamazoo's army of well paid and contented 
 workers, — an army contmually swelled by the establishment of new plants, 
 the mystery of Kalamazoo's commercial prosperity is solved. Where mer- 
 chants know no "dull times ", no man walks her streets in idleness as a non- 
 producer and a burden on the tax payer, through inability to obtain remuner- 
 ative employment should he honestly desire it. 
 
 In these evidences of civic enterprise, of "push " and "hustle ", of deter- 
 mination to secure educational and residential advantages is the promise of the 
 greater Kalamazoo; in what has already been accomplished along every line 
 of municipal improvement is 
 
 THE LURE OF KALAMAZOO 
 
 Further information may be secured from the Secretary 
 
 THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 
 
 KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN 
 46 
 
IHLING BROS. EVERARD CO. 
 ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS 
 KALAMAZOO. MICHIGAN 
 
COVER STOCK FURNISHED BY THE 
 
 Standard Paper Company 
 kauamazoo. - mich. 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 I ijitti iiiii iiiii mil Hill mil mil iiiii mil iim mn mi mi 
 
 020 994 868 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 020 994 868