NOTICE: The Eastwood Branch will be closed on April 29th & 30th for maintenance needs. 

Notice of Public Meeting: Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees | April 22nd| 5 pm | Central Library/Van Deusen Room. The packet of information for the meeting can be found on the library’s website. 

See the latest updates about Alma Powell Branch.

Local History

Houses

Wheaton, 703: Martin W. Roberts House

Martin W. Roberts House, 703 Wheaton Street, c. 1980. Gary Cialdella One of the more visually striking homes built in the Vine Neighborhood during the 1870s is the Martin W.…

Main Street, W., 1012: McDuffee Home

This stately home once stood at the northwest corner of West Main and Stuart streets. Built about 1890, it was owned by Louis Phillippe McDuffee and his wife, Harriet. The home fell into disrepair and was razed in 1958.

Mansion Row

North side of West Main Street looking east from Allen Boulevard c.1910. Postcard view (private collection). “There were a wide variety of styles including Italianate, Queen Anne, and some of…

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...

Parkview, 3403: John Gibbs House

The John Gibbs House sits along the south side of Parkview Avenue, just east of Drake Road. The pre-Civil War-built house (1853-1854) reflects the Greek Revival style popular among early…

Prairie Style Homes

“The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline…

Rose, S., 628: James Clapham House

In 1848, Orson Fowler, one of America's leading phrenologists, departed from his analysis of the human personality to publish a carefully reasoned treatise on "modern" architecture. A Home for All: the Octagon Mode of Building passed through...

Sheffield Drive, 2360

The inspiration for the design of the modernist house at 2360 Sheffield Drive was an article published in Parents Magazine. Robert and Maxene Godfrey had three small children in 1948,…

Short Road Mansions

Short Road is just that, a diminutive stretch of pavement that runs south from Grant Street through Wheaton Avenue, between Oakland Drive and the Vine Neighborhood. The road is home…

South Street, W., 515: Boudeman House

This stately, Georgian-Colonial home was built in 1905 by Dallas Boudeman for his son, Donald. Among its most distinctive features are the four large columns that support the front pediment, and the formal floor plan. The younger Boudeman was an...

South Street, W., 516: James F. and Carrie Gilmore House

One September Saturday in 1908, the Gazette mourned the passing of James F. Gilmore, calling "the memory of his well-lived life... the grandest heritage that he could have left to his family, his friends and the community that proudly claimed him...

South Street, W., 523: Frank B. Lay House

A rush of new buildings changed the face of staid old South Street at its junction with Westnedge. Dallas Boudeman finished the Georgian-Colonial house at 515 South in 1905. James F. and Carrie Gilmore were preparing to move into their English...

South Street, W., 527: Carder-Van Deusen House

As the Civil War ended, Isaac Moffatt, called "General" by his friends, sold his modest home on South Street to Edwin Carder, a successful furniture dealer looking to move from his home on Walnut Street to the fashionable area on the west side of...

South Street, W., 530: Wood-Upjohn House

In the period during and after the Civil War, no architectural style caught the attention of the American people more than did that called the "Italian Revival". Coming to us originally in the Italian landscapes shipped back by traveling American...

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