The Mobile Library visit scheduled today at 4 pm has been canceled due to a maintenance issue. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

NOTICE: Public Meeting KPL Board of Trustees | March 22 | 5:15 pm & March 23 | 12:30 pm | Central/Van Deusen. Information can be found on our website.

Local History

Houses

Lustron Homes

Lustron Home ad, c.1947 “The Lustron home was an enameled-steel prefabricated house that was immensely popular and highly promoted during a two-year period in United States history, 1948 to 1950.”…

Burdick, S., 427: Isaac Brown House

One of the last surviving residences in the downtown area, the Isaac Brown House is a pleasant example of the irregular "Italian Villa". The rounded windows of the front bay, the "hooded" windows in the second story, the entry porch and doorway...

Douglas, 331: James Kent House

James A. Kent, a local builder, lived for half a century on this commanding site looking down the length of Kalamazoo Avenue. He had come to Kalamazoo a young carpenter in 1856. A year later he became full partner in the sash-and-door company of...

Dover Rd., 1615: Paul Rood House

The Alden B. Dow Home & Studio Kalamazoo has its fair share of modernist-inspired houses (designed c.1932-1960) that reflect the influential spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright and the European architects…

Dutton, W., 424: Thomas Norton House

The Gazette chose the "Norton House" for its series on "Interesting Homes In and Around Kalamazoo" in 1945. The reporter knew a little about the mysterious figure who built this home in 1855, but he was more interested in the log frame, the heavy...

Elm, 213: Delos Chappell-Stewart House

The Federal Census-taker walked down Elm Street one summer day in 1880, asking his questions of the merchants and professional people who made their homes in this fashionable district. He called on lawyer Nathaniel Stewart’s family at number 10 Elm..

Elm, 302: Amariah T. Prouty House

Kalamazoo was doing the nation’s greatest “land-office business” in 1835. The rush to settle the village and the several prairies around it was on in earnest one day in June when a wagonload of immigrants from Vermont stalled in the middle of the...

Frank Lloyd Wright Houses

Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) was one of America’s most influential twentieth century architects. His concept of the Usonian House-- "a home of the common people"--can be seen in eight homes that he designed in Kalamazoo County...

Henderson Castle

Henderson Castle, located on West Main Hill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is an attraction for tourists and Kalamazoo residents alike. Bordered by ...

Ingersoll Village

In the early years of World War II, building materials were scarce, and the manpower with which to build anything was scarcer. After the war the wave of returning GIs hoping to marry their sweethearts and start homes of their own swelled the...

Justus Burdick House

The story of Kalamazoo’s oldest house is also one about the mobility of 19th century properties. Built in 1837-1838 for General Justus Burdick, a formative pioneer who came to the…

Kirkpatrick House

Photo by Ryan Gage Nestled away on a forested cul-de-sac in the Winchell Neighborhood, the James and Sarah Kirkpatrick House was designed by the celebrated American architect George Nelson, and…

Lovell, W., 226: Austin-Sill House

Benjamin Austin was fourteen when he settled with his family in Portage in 1833. At sixteen he moved to Kalamazoo to learn tin smithing and watch making. As he grew older, he turned to the dry goods business and then to making spring wagons in...

Lustron Homes

Lustron Home ad, c.1947 “The Lustron home was an enameled-steel prefabricated house that was immensely popular and highly promoted during a two-year period in United States history, 1948 to 1950.”…

Michigan Modern

The following Kalamazoo area houses and buildings have been recognized by the Michigan Modern Project as significant contributions to modernist design. The MMP has its goals the following: Define Michigan’s role…

Norman F. Carver Jr. Houses

One of Kalamazoo’s most important artistic residents in the post-World War II era was Norman F. Carver Jr. (1928-2018). Carver was born in Kalamazoo to an artistic family. His father…

Oak, 415-417: Daniel Jacobs House

This home must rank as one of the oldest surviving houses in Kalamazoo. The lot had been listed under "Welch's Addition" until Frederick Booher, one of Kalamazoo's earliest settlers and then a real estate broker, bought it and several others in...

Oakland Drive, 1006: Gatehouse, State Hospital

Originally intended as a gatehouse at the entrance drive to the State Hospital grounds. The gate was never constructed, though the drive passed beside the building for several years. In style, the gatehouse belongs to that category popularly...

Oakland Drive, 814: Henry Montague House

This simple but spacious brick home built on the eve of the Civil War, suggests its identification with the popular Greek Revival by its side-lighted and pilastered doorway and the hint of an entablature under the eaves. It was built in 1861...

Park, S., 628: R. Dexter Walker House

This fine example of the "Greek Revival" temple retains a great deal of its original appearance. Its present condition is a testimony to the skill of its builder, a young Canadian brick maker, Richard Dexter Walker. Walker bought his lot in the...

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