A.M. Todd Company

On a breezy day, the sweet smell of Albert M. Todd’s legacy still wafts through downtown Kalamazoo. Todd established the mint industry in this area in 1869 and was so successful at it that he became known as "The Peppermint King."

Be-Mo Potato Chip Company

One of the city’s most treasured food manufacturers was the Be-Mo Potato Chip Company. The firm’s 20,000-square-foot concrete and brick factory still stands along the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail at…

Distilleries of Early Kalamazoo

Over the years, dozens of people and products have helped bring notoriety to Kalamazoo; from guitars to taxicabs, fishing tackle to pharmaceuticals, sleds, stoves, undergarments...

Joseph C. Dunkley (1836-1898)

Joseph Dunkley was one of the largest celery growers in Kalamazoo, earning him the title of “The Celery King.” Dunkley’s celery fields covered nearly 80 acres and his products helped bring great notoriety to the “Celery City.”

Kalamazoo Municipal Market

Every summer, locals congregate on Saturday mornings at the Farmers Market near Bank Street to buy and sell fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers and many other kinds of goods.

Nichols Family Dairy

During the 1840s, brothers James, Ezra, and Sabin Nichols moved their families from New England to Kalamazoo, where they established one of the earliest commercial dairy farms in the area. Their family business carried on over three generations.

North Burdick Grocery and Market

Established in 1949, the North Burdick Grocery and Market (1907 N. Burdick) was the first African American-owned and operated business in Kalamazoo. Willie and Lucile Stinson were the well-known proprietors of the grocery that served the needs...

Saloon Row

In 1911, Kalamazoo mayor Charles Farrell launched an effort to “clean up” the first block of East Main Street between Burdick and Portage streets, the city's center and long-established commerce hub that had come to be known as “Saloon Row.”

Stalking the Celery City

In an ice age long ago, a glacier ground its way slowly south in Michigan and stopped just north of Kalamazoo County. In front of it stretched vast flood plains of black, loamy muck that lay over water-impervious clay. The glacier retreated, ...

Tully Scott's Popcorn Wagon

During the years between the two World Wars, a sure sign that springtime had arrived in Kalamazoo was the appearance of Tully Scott’s bright red popcorn wagon on city streets.…

Union Nurseries (L.G. Bragg & Co.)

During the 1860s, an enterprising grower from Paw Paw named Leonard Bragg established a prosperous nursery business along Asylum Road south of the village. Bragg’s Union Nurseries employed hundreds and grew to be among the oldest and largest fruit...