37 Facts About Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo is a city in the southwest region of the U S state of Michigan.

Kalamazoo is equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, being about 140 miles away from both.

The name “Kalamazoo” comes from a Potawatomi word, first found in a British report in 1772.

The Kalamazoo River was then known by Canadians and French as La riviere Kikanamaso.

Name Kalamazoo, which sounds unusual to English speakers, has become a metonym for exotic places, as in the phrase "from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo".

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However, the area around present-day Kalamazoo was reserved as the village of Potawatomi Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish.

Kalamazoo was legally incorporated as a village in 1838 and as a city in 1883.

Fertile farmlands attracted prosperous Yankee farmers who settled the surrounding area, and sent their sons to Kalamazoo to become businessmen, professionals and entrepreneurs who started numerous factories.

Kalamazoo was the original home of Gibson Guitar Corporation, which spawned the still-local Heritage Guitars.

Kalamazoo was once known as the "Paper City" because of the paper mills in and near the city.

Early in the 20th century, Kalamazoo was home to the brass era automobile company Barley.

Kalamazoo was headquarters of the Checker Motors Company, the former manufacturer of the Checker Cab, which stamped sheet metal parts for other auto manufacturers.

Several small tributaries of the Kalamazoo River, including Arcadia Creek and Portage Creek, wind through the city.

At least part of the municipal water supply for Kalamazoo is provided by the watershed contained within the Al Sabo Preserve in Texas Charter Township, Michigan, immediately southwest of Kalamazoo.

City of Kalamazoo is commonly divided into 22 neighborhoods, many of which are served by a neighborhood association.

Kalamazoo has many local breweries and brewpubs that produce a variety of beer styles.

Kalamazoo is home to Kalsec, another flavorings company, which was founded by Paul H Todd Jr.

The bulk of the former Upjohn Company facilities in the area exist in Portage, under Pfizer or Zoetis operation; others, located in downtown Kalamazoo, have been re-purposed as the campus of the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M D School of Medicine, the research and development headquarters of Zoetis, and office space for Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M D School of Medicine is a collaboration involving Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Methodist.

Kalamazoo hospitals include: Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital, Bronson Methodist Hospital, and Ascension Borgess Hospital.

In 2014, Newell Rubbermaid established a global product design center in Kalamazoo, consolidating fifteen global design units at a single location within the Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park.

In 2015, Kalamazoo-based landscape design and manufacturing firm Landscape Forms, Inc, received five National Design Awards.

Kalamazoo government is administered under a commission-manager style of government.

Crime is spread throughout Kalamazoo and is especially high in the inner neighborhoods such as Edison, the Northside and Vine.

Small sections of Kalamazoo are in other school districts: Parchment School District, Comstock Public Schools and Portage Public Schools.

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On New Year's Eve, downtown Kalamazoo is the site of an annual New Year's Fest celebration.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum, established in 1881, is an American Association of Museums accredited museum operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Kalamazoo is host to the Kalamashoegazer music festival, held for the last 13 years and a showcase for both local and national shoegaze and dream pop bands.

Kalamazoo is the hometown of former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, former NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings, former NFL running back T J Duckett, the world's number one prize money winning pro bass fisherman Kevin VanDam, former MLB pitcher Scott Olsen, former NHL player Adam Hall and former Chicago White Sox first baseman Mike Squires.

Kalamazoo was the hometown of longtime Detroit Tigers owner John Fetzer, who owned the American League team from 1961 through 1984, when he sold the franchise to Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan.

Kalamazoo is served by one daily newspaper, the Kalamazoo Gazette, which now prints three editions weekly as of early 2012.

Business Review Western Michigan, a business-to-business publication headquartered in Kalamazoo, covering Western Michigan news, was rolled into MLive online coverage in late 2012.

Fetzer created Kalamazoo's first cable television system, then known as Fetzer Cablevision; it is a predecessor of Kalamazoo's current cable franchise, Charter Communications.

Kalamazoo is part of the West Michigan television market, which includes Grand Rapids and Battle Creek.

Charter offers all West Michigan channels on its system to Kalamazoo subscribers, including WZZM, the ABC affiliate for Grand Rapids and the northern part of the market.

Kalamazoo's name is a familiar reference in popular music, since its unique sound makes it a "great word for a lyric".

In 2014 Kalamazoo was mentioned again by Rittz in the song "Bounce" on his album Next to Nothing.