Local History

Houses

Burdick, S., 154: Bassett House

The elegant Italianate-style home was built in 1858 and occupied by John C. Bassett, a well-known local grocer, and his family. The home is still there, all but hidden behind a hodgepodge of turn-of-the-20th century commercial structures.

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 Avenue, 1437 : Enoch Shaffer House

Built around 1870, the Enoch Shaffer House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The brick Victorian farmhouse resides along Douglas Avenue, just south of Ravine…

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...

Elmwood, 832: W.G. Bartholomew House

One of the more striking homes in the Stuart Neighborhood is also one whose origins are shrouded in mystery. At 832 Elmwood, surrounded by a picket fence, lies a Greek Revival cottage, ...one of the city’s oldest homes.

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...

Glenwood, 2230: Humphrey-Upjohn House

Built in 1925 for one of Kalamazoo’s most prominent businessmen, this striking house in the Westnedge Hill Neighborhood was designed by Chicago architect, Robert E. Seyfarth (1878-1950). Seyfarth’s house was…

Henderson Castle

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

Homes from Picturesque Kalamazoo

Picturesque Kalamazoo, originally published by James P. Craig in 1890, is one our favorite books in the Local History collection. The book is a visual snapshot of the city’s grand…

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

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 one of his company’s associates, Gordon Chadwick.

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...