Gibson, Inc. Factory and Office Building

225 Parsons Street

The landmark three-story “daylight” style concrete factory building at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo was designed and built for the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company. Completed in 1917, the $47,000 structure formed the heart of the Gibson, Inc. manufacturing facility until the company moved from Kalamazoo and closed its plant here in 1984.

The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company

From Orville H. Gibson’s workshops on Burdick Street and East Main, to the first Gibson Company offices and factory in the former Witwer Bakery on Exchange Place, and later to a new two-story building on Harrison Alley, the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company struggled to meet the growing demand for its finely crafted mandolins, guitars and violins.

By 1912 the Gibson company was employing some 60 workers and was doing more than $75,000 in business each year (nearly $2.4 million today). Despite its best laid plans, the firm had within three short years outgrown its newest facility on Harrison Alley, prompting company officers to search for still larger quarters. In April 1912, the firm purchased a 130 by 265-foot residential block on the north side of Parsons Street, bordered to the west by North Edwards Street, to the north by what was then Chestnut Street, and along the east side by the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway line. The original plans called for a 60 by 125-foot four-story building (with basement), offering some 30,000 square feet of floor space. Plans were to have the new building ready for occupancy by January 1913.

The process took a bit longer than expected—several years longer, in fact—but after numerous design changes, things finally began to move forward in November 1915 when the company increased its capital stock from $40,000 to $100,000.

Designed by Kalamazoo architect George Gilbert Worden (1885-1972) and built by Kalamazoo contractor Gerard Van Eck (1863-1918), the finalized design was to be a three-story 56 by 164-foot building made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete with a stucco-like exterior and large steel-framed windows on all sides. The $47,000 building, which occupies the southeast corner of the property, was designed so two more floors could be added, although such an addition was never built. After moving to its new Parsons Street quarters in August 1917, the company planned to double its workforce by employing between 75 and 100 workers.

Gibson, Inc.

The original 1917 building on Parsons Street (along with its subsequent additions) saw the company through its glory years, where more than 1,000 workers were employed, making upwards of 1,000 guitars each day—something Orville Gibson likely never imagined. After nearly eight decades in Kalamazoo, weathering two world wars and a Great Depression, the company moved its headquarters to Nashville in 1981 and ultimately closed the Kalamazoo plant in 1984. The original factory building has hosted a variety of tenants since, including Heritage Guitars, a company started by former Gibson employees. The Gibson, Inc. factory and office building on Parsons Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2022.

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, June 2024