Kalamazoo And How It Grew

by Willis Frederick Dunbar, George G. Mallinson (Introduction), Richard N. Gregg (Illustrator)

Overview

Most of Kalamazoo County’s early white settlers were fur traders from England or New York. The remainder came from Pennsylvania and Maryland. After 1845 the number of foreign immigrants increased rapidly especially with the coming of the Hollanders in 1850. The growth rate of the county’s population reached its height between 1845-1860, when almost 8,000 newcomers settled there. That growth rate was not exceeded for 50 years when, between 1904-1920, the population grew to 214,000, quite an increase over the 1860 figure. Increased immigration, better transportation, and the appearance of diversified industries all played a role in Kalamazoo County’s growth.

“Every community has its roots in the past. Its people live in the present and look to the future, but their way of life and their patterns of thought are conditioned by their heritage. A widespread understanding of that heritage is essential in order that progress may be planned wisely.

“Hence, it has seemed desirable to gather into a single volume the story of Kalamazoo’s growth from a tiny fur-trading post in the wilderness to a modern metropolitan center.”—Willis F. Dunbar

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789128093
Publisher:	Papamoa Press
Publication date:	12/12/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

WILLIS FREDERICK DUNBAR (1902-1970) was born in Hartford, Michigan and graduated from Kalamazoo College. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He served as a faculty member and dean at Kalamazoo College from 1929-1942 and a faculty member and department chairperson at Western Michigan University from 1941-1970. Dunbar also served as the vice mayor of Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1951-1953 and 1955-1957. He was a familiar figure in Michigan homes as a frequent radio and TV commentator on Michigan affairs, past and present, serving as program director and director of public affairs at WKZO a Kalamazoo, Michigan, radio station from 1943-1951. He was a member of the American Historical Association and served as President of the Michigan Historical Commission, Historical Society of Michigan, and the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. He was a frequent lecturer on subjects of local, state and regional interest, and was broadly active in civic and cultural affairs. Dr. Dunbar was the author of numerous articles in educational and historical journals, and wrote a number of books on various phases of Michigan history, including Michigan Through the Centuries (1952), The Michigan Record in Higher Education (1963), Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State (1965), and All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan (1966). He passed away in 1970.

RICHARD N. GREGG was an art museum director and wrote articles for such magazines as Antiques, Connoisseur, Curator, American Artist and Museum News. He was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Michigan in 1950. He died in Miami Beach, Florida on March 8, 1988 aged 61.

GEORGE G. MALLINSON (1917-1994) was Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Western Michigan University.