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Local History

Health

Pine Crest Sanitorium

Oshtemo Township was once home to a large-scale sanitorium complex along 9th street called Pine Crest. The facility, established by Dr. Benjamin A. Shepard to treat those suffering from the…

Baldwin Sanitarium

The 22 June 1911 headline reads: “NILES SANITARIUM MAY MOVE TO KALMAZOO”, which is the first Kalamazoo Gazette reporting on the Baldwin Sanitarium’s plan to relocate to 729 Oakland Drive…

Borgess

At the end of the 19th century Kalamazoo was home to a number of doctors and even an Academy of Medicine, but the nearest hospital was miles from the city. Doctors were only able to make house calls and, as a result, operations took place in...

Bronson Methodist Hospital

In the fall of 1896 the population of Kalamazoo had reached 24,000 people, some began to wonder if Borgess Hospital was equipped to deal with all the sick in the city. That winter Dr. Rush McNair took charge of a project to create a new...

Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center

The Cheff Center was originally founded by a grant from the Cheff Foundation in Holland, Michigan. The Cheff Foundation was incorporated in 1960 as a way to channel the generous financial gifts of Mr. and Mrs. P.T. Cheff. Mr. Cheff, the former...

Dr. C. Allen Alexander

“An extraordinary personality, who is a physician, surgeon, community leader, oral historian, sportsman, raconteur, and author.”

Infant Welfare Station

Kalamazoo’s first permanent Infant Welfare Station was designed to provide educational resources for new and economically challenged parents and their families, especially during the strenuous times of war, through well baby visits.

Kalamazoo County Poor Farm

In 1849, Kalamazoo County purchased the former Alphadelphia Society property near Galesburg to use as a County Poor Farm for the elderly and impoverished. The facility closed in 1974 after 125 years of service. River Oaks Park now occupies the site.

Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital

The Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital, the largest institution of its kind in Michigan, officially opened on 29 August 1859 under the direction of Dr. Edwin Van Deusen, although three women patients

KPH Brook and Colony Farms

From its inception, the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital's treatment of the mentally ill was known for its humane innovation. No less so was the establishment of Brook Farm in 1885 and Colony Farm in 1887. The patients living and working at these...

KPH Northwest Unit

The structure stood atop a hill overlooking Kalamazoo in the Fairmount Neighborhood at 1500 Blakeslee Avenue. In spite of being surrounded by chain link fencing with barbed wire at the top, it attracted neighborhood youth who entered the building...

KPH Water Tower

Visible from almost any approach to the city of Kalamazoo is a structure shrouded in mist, myth and mystery...the water tower on the grounds of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. The structure dominates the skyline as it rises in medieval...

McNair, Rush Dr.

One of several founders of Bronson and Borgess Hospitals, Dr. Rush McNair was a central figure in Kalamazoo’s medical community for more than four decades. His good fortune as a…

Pine Crest Sanitorium

Oshtemo Township was once home to a large-scale sanitorium complex along 9th street called Pine Crest. The facility, established by Dr. Benjamin A. Shepard to treat those suffering from the…

Pioneer Medicine

Dr. Uriah Upjohn, c.1865. P-652 The life of a Kalamazoo pioneer was not an easy one, even for those who possessed financial resources. The physical and emotional labor of struggling…

Spear, Marion R.

In the early years of the last century, a new approach to the treatment of mental and physical illnesses unfolded. Rooted in the earlier “Arts and Crafts” and “Moral Treatment”…

Stryker, Homer

Dr. Homer Stryker is Kalamazoo’s most famous physician. He was an orthopedic surgeon, inventor, and businessman, best known for his inventions which revolutionized orthopedic care.

Wilbur Home and School

The Wilbur Home and School for the Feeble-Minded Administered by Dr. Charles T. Wilbur, a physician who had been born and educated in Massachusetts, his Wilbur Home and School for…

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