International Building

241-249 S. Kalamazoo Mall

Anchoring the northeast corner of S. Burdick and South Street since its construction in 1869, the International Building first began as a hotel/boarding house.

Built by eminent contractors Bush and Paterson in the Italianate Renaissance style, the owner behind the project was New York transplant, Edward H. Davis, a blacksmith who made his money as a dry goods merchant alongside with his partner H.S. Parker. After the Civil War concluded, Davis saw a need for a downtown hotel/boarding house that addressed the housing needs of clerks and storekeepers. The Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph monitored the building’s progress.

“Mr. E.H. Davis, who is building a $40,000 block on Burdick and South Streets uses new roofing techniques.”

—Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, 12 August 1869

“Davis’ new family hotel is progressing rapidly, part of the building having already received the first coat of plaster, it is expected that it will be ready for boarders by the first of October.”

—Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, 30 August 1869

“This new, large and handsome edifice on Burdick street is now wholly completed, and filled to its utmost capacity, every room being occupied. It is generally finished in suits of two rooms, with accompanying closets for families, though there is a large number of fine single rooms for single gentlemen. The halls are all beautifully finished and carpeted and have a warm and comfortable look, as you enter, quite the opposite to what Bayard Taylor described, the other evening as the ‘dreary desolateness of a boarding-house’.”

—Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, 23 December 1869

The 100 hundred foot long block cost Davis $40,000. By December of 1869, construction had been completed and tenants began moving into Davis’ brand new International Hotel. The hotel possessed running water on all of its floors, an advancement that was the result of the installation of the municipal pump station. In addition to tenant rooms, the hotel operated “a fine oyster restaurant.” Davis, along with his wife Lena and son DeForest, remained owners of the building until 1879, when he sold the hotel to Ira A. Ransom.

Ira A. Ransom was born in Castelton, Vermont in 1845. Ransom came to Kalamazoo in 1865 to meet a friend, and was so pleased with the village, he chose to stay. After employment stints with the Michigan Central Railroad Company and clerking for H.S. Parker, Ransom took his blossoming business acumen to Marshall, Michigan for nine months, engaging in the boot and shoe trade. Eventually, Kalamazoo called to Ransom once more, and he returned to begin his relationship with the Kalamazoo Gas Light Company. Ransom had married the daughter (Emma) of Jeremiah Woodbury in 1869, a notable merchant and financier who had developed the company along with Allen Potter in 1855. Upon the death of his father-in-law, Ransom took control of the company. Ransom played an executive role in several notable businesses over the years, including the American Playing Card Company, the Phelps and Bigelow Windmill Company, the Upjohn Pill and Granule Company, and the Featherbone Corset Company. Upon buying the International Hotel, Ransom kept the headquarters of the gas company in the building for many years.

Over the next twenty years, occupancy in the hotel slowed despite continued commercial growth along S. Burdick. As tenants dwindled, the storefront space the building offered began filling up with an assortment of trades. The city directory of 1901 lists the following businesses housed within the block: a plumber, the Kalamazoo Gas Company, Prange Optical, a druggist, and a grocer. Shoe salesman, jewelers, engravers, bakers, and a milinery have all occupied the building at one time. Ransom died in 1910 with his shares transferred to his wife and son Woodbury. At this time, the building was valued at $75,000.

Montgomery Ward Moves In

The next largescale modifications to the International Building came in 1933 when Montgomery Ward renovated the building prior to moving in. The first 61 feet of the building (northern portion) was given a radical facelift by architect Nelson P. Rice. Rice transformed the original Italianate facade into a brick, Neo-Colonial-style storefront that matched the roofline of the original building. The second and third floor windows were also altered to reflect the change in style. The new windows were changed to eight-over-eight double-hung sash with lipped lintels. The new department store also added 154 feet of building eastwardly toward Farmers Alley. Montgomery Ward remained in the building until 1962. Walgreen Drugstore moved into the newer addition of the building in 1963, and operated there until the early 2000’s.

In 1985, the Peregrine Company announced they were planning on a major renovation of the International Building, which included both repairs to the exterior and interior. The second and third floors were to be converted into office space. As of this writing, a variety of businesses call the old boarding house home, including Roca, Terrapin, Be Joyful Shop, Spice & Tea Merchants, and The Waiting Room.

Article written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, December 2025