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Local History

Buildings

Rickman Hotel

The Rickman House is one of the most impressive and imposing landmarks on the north end of downtown Kalamazoo. The elegant architecture speaks to the building’s century-old history as one of Kalamazoo’s finest hotels.

Hanselman Building

Prior to the turn of the century, no commercial buildings in the city exceeded four stories. That all changed in 1907 when the city’s first steel-framed skyscraper, the Kalamazoo National Bank Building, rose an astounding eight-stories.

Haymarket Building

One of downtown’s tallest buildings, the Haymarket Building at 161 E. Michigan Avenue, has been a durable feature of the city’s commercial artery since it was built in 1908. The…

Hershfield Brothers Building

Art Deco style has left a visible footprint in downtown Kalamazoo since it became the fashionable vernacular of late-1920s commercial and government architecture. Examples include the American National Bank Building,…

Holt Hotel

Situated along the south side of the 300 block of E. Michigan Avenue, stuck between the Columbia Hotel, the New Arlington Hotel and the Henderson-Ames Building is the three-story Holt Hotel.

Hugh J. McHugh Building

Situated in the heart of the Haymarket District, an Irish immigrant named Hugh J. McHugh built a handsome, three-story brick building on the southwest corner of E. Main (now 276 E. Michigan Avenue) and Edwards Streets

Humphrey Block

Don’t believe everything you read. There’s a historical marker at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Portage Street that commemorates the building’s designation as a Michigan Historic Site. The building…

Hurd Building

Charles Hurd was 25 as he opened up his farm in Oshtemo Township in 1835--when Kalamazoo was doing the nation's most profitable "land-office business". For twenty years he farmed and raised a family, then moved to Kalamazoo in 1855. He bought a...

Ihling-Doubleday Building

Squeezed in between the striking Doyle Building (229), and the Louis Sullivan designed Desenberg block (251), the unpretentious Ihling-Doubleday Building at 241 E. Michigan Avenue may not have the architectural reputation of its neighbors....

Illinois Envelope Company Building

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the Illinois Envelope Company Building is the last remaining structure that was once part of the sprawling complex of paper-making/supporting…

International Building

Anchoring the northeast corner of S. Burdick and South Street since its construction in 1869, the International Building first began as a hotel/boarding house. 1873 Kalamazoo County Map, Local History…

Interurban Building

Located on the east side of Portage Street (169-171), just north of E. South Street, the Interurban Building stands today, a survivor of time, fire, weather and urban redevelopment.

Kalamazoo Armory

Demolished in August of 1978, the Kalamazoo Armory Building (aka Michigan Armory Building) stood at 162 E. Water Street for more than six decades, serving as the headquarters for Company…

Kalamazoo Building

At the turn of the twentieth century skyscrapers were still a relatively recent development. The desire to build taller had historically been thwarted by the number of stairs people were willing to climb and how much weight masonry could support...

Kalamazoo County Courthouses

Beginning in 1838, Kalamazooans would see three different courthouse buildings rise up on Court House Square before December 2023, when the courts were moved to the Judge Charles A. Pratt Justice Center on Eleanor Street.

Kalamazoo County Jail

Kalamazoo wasn’t exactly a “wild west” sort of town in its early days. In fact, “Kalamazoo was noted for being one of the most orderly places of its size in the country.” Still, the county jail was seen as a necessary deterrent to crime...

Kalamazoo House

“Earliest of Kalamazoo enterprises to experience a business boom were its hotels–institutions which became the rallying places for the community and the scenes of many festive occasions in the first years of the city’s history."

Kalamazoo Paper Mills

The following is only a brief sketch of some of the major paper mill facilities in Kalamazoo, all of which contributed significantly to the city’s economic success over the first…

Kalamazoo Water Works

By the 1860s, fire protection was a major concern, and Kalamazoo’s antiquated water system had become outdated. In March 1869, the village charter was amended by a bill that would authorize the construction of a water works facility.

Kreeger Building

Situated today at 250-252 E. Michigan Avenue, the Kreeger Building’s most notable feature is the Art Deco-style typeface used to inscribe the surname “Kreeger” into its sandstone façade.

Ladies Library Association

The Kalamazoo Ladies Library Association was the first woman’s club organized in Michigan and the third in the nation. Members held meetings in various places around the village between 1852 and 1879, when local builder Fred Bush completed...