Local History

Houses

South Street, W., 711: James Henry House

The modest classical features of this simple L-shaped Greek Revival house were duplicated in many other mid-century homes in the village. The rambling additions to the rear of the house gave it a spacious interior and the return cornices, small...

South Street, W., 717: Hawes-Potter House

Along South Street’s historically important stretch of homes that once upon a time housed a who’s who of Kalamazoo’s most prominent citizens, is the Hawes-Potter House.

South Street, W., 718: Hon. Allen Potter House

The Honorable Allen Potter, first Mayor of Kalamazoo, is probably better-known than any pioneer other than Titus Bronson. Churches all over the city memorialized him at his death in 1885; business came to a standstill during his funeral. "Such...

South Street, W., 723: Burry Fry House

Joseph Fry came to New York from France in 1844, when he was seventeen. At the end of the Civil War, he moved with his wife, Sarah (who bore him eleven children) to Kalamazoo and went to work as a "drayman." The Michigan Census-taker found him...

South Street, W., 724-726: M.D. Woodford House

“Lot H” on South Street changed hands a number of times since the State of Michigan first auctioned it off as part of the “School Section” in 1841. Sometime in the 1840’s a house went up on the site of the present structure, and, in 1854, one...

South Street, W., 729: Jane Van deWalker House

Lawrence Van deWalker came to Kalamazoo when the Land Office moved from White Pigeon in the Mid-1830's. He received the great land rush that hit the region in the following years. He also served as sheriff from 1836 to 1838, took the Census in...

South Street, W., 813: Hutson B. Colman House

A building boom came to South Street at the beginning of the twentieth century. Near Westnedge fine new homes went up for the Blumenbergs and the Boudemans, the Gilmores and the Lays. At the other end of the long tree-lined block rose the...

Stuart, 305: Isaiah Flagg House

Isaiah Flagg and a number of relatives settled in Kalamazoo around the middle of the nineteenth century. Flagg and his wife had both been born in Canada shortly after the War of 1812. He and his relatives specialized as carpenters and joiners with...

Stuart, 316: Taylor-Hatfield-Sutherland House

One of the Stuart Neighborhood’s best examples of a Queen Anne-style home is situated at 316 Stuart Avenue. Three of its early occupants were figures in Kalamazoo’s bustling, industrial past,…

Stuart, 323: Manly Davidson - John McKee House

Young Manly Davidson established himself as a builder in Kalamazoo's Civil War Years. In 1867, he began to construct the solid home which now stands at 319 Stuart. Davidson chose the most fashionable "contemporary" style of the day--the "Mansard" ...

Stuart, 427: Hon. Charles E. Stuart House

Already recorded by the State of Michigan as an historic site, this fine old mansion was once the family home of Senator Charles E. Stuart. Stuart, born in New York in 1810, came to Kalamazoo when he was 25 and formed a law firm with Governor...

The Oaklands at WMU

The Oaklands at WMU was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 27 May 1983.

Village, 532: Peter B. Appeldoorn House

A charming Late Queen Anne nestled in the tree-lined Vine Neighborhood, the Peter B. Appeldoorn House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Walnut Street, W., 309: Carder-Remington House

Lewis A. Remington brought his wife and his four-year-old daughter Mary to Kalamazoo from New York state in 1859; a son, Fred, was born soon after they arrived. The Remingtons settled in the simple, square Italian Revival house that Edwin Carder...

Westnedge Avenue, S., 2026: Everyman's House

Kalamazoo's Everyman's House was built as an entry in the "Better Homes in America" contest of 1924 and emerged as first place winner from among more than one thousand entries...

Wheaton, 703: Martin W. Roberts House

One of the more visually striking homes built in the Vine Neighborhood during the 1870s is the Martin W. Roberts House, located on the southwest corner of Wheaton and Oak streets.

Woodward, 211: Dr. William H. Johnson House

In the last years of the Civil War, Dr. William H. Johnson built one of the distinguished examples of Italian Villa design in Kalamazoo. Its regular features: the hooded doorway, the elaborate double hooded windows, the bracketed eaves and...

Woodward, 315: Julius Caesar Burrows House

Member of Congress and Senator for 39 years, and one of the truly great men to come out of Kalamazoo, Julius Caesar Burrows made his home in the distinctive house that is now an apartment building at 315 Woodward Avenue