Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-1982 A History of Bronson Park, Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1829 to 1940 Carol Knauss Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Knauss, Carol, "A History of Bronson Park, Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1829 to 1940" (1982). Master's Theses. 1681. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1681 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A HISTORY OF BRONSON PARK, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN FROM 1 8 2 9 TO 1 9 4 0 by Carol Knauss • A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College : in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December, 1982 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A HISTORY OF BRONSON PARK, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN FROM 1 8 2 9 TO 1940 Carol Knauss, M.A. Western Michigan University, 1982 Bronson Park is a 3.6-acre tract of land in the center of downtown Kalamazoo. For over 130 years the city has used this land for a public park. The land originally was donated to the county for a school and a jail by the men who owned and platted the area. Interested citizens converted the two squares into a park which, in the following years, was improved with trees, walks, and a fountain. This park became an important meeting place for the villagers who held political rallies and celebrations there. From 1829 to 1940 both the appearance and the way people used the park changed. Grand private residences around the park were replaced by public buildings. Various citizen groups placed memorials in the park. Large celebrations were moved to places with more space. The W.P.A. projects of the late 1930s brought new life to the park with a total refurbishing and a new fountain. The new civic auditorium and a W.P.A. sponsored county building completed the setting for Bronson Park as the focus of a government/cultural center in Kala­ mazoo. But through all the changes Bronson Park remained a special place in the concern and affection of the Kalamazoo citizens. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research in this thesis was based on materials gathered for an exhibition at the Kalamazoo Public Museum— "In the Heart of Town: A History and Celebration of Bronson Park." I would like to thank the entire staff of the museum, especially Mary Lou Stewart, Curator of Collections, for their help and encouragement. I also wish to thank my advisors, Peter Schmitt and Larry Massie, for their helpful editorial suggestions. My heartfelt personal appreciation goes to my various friends and relations who were always there to lend an ear. Carol Knauss ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. 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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1320310 KNAUSS, CAROL ANN A HISTORY OF BRONSON PARK, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN FROM 1829 TO 1940 WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY M.A. 1982 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....... ................... ii INTRODUCTION ......................... 1 CHAPTER I. 1829-1844 ...... .......... .... 3 II. 1845-1865 ................ 10 III. 1866-1880 ............... 23 IV. 1881—1890 • . ■ . ■ . .... ... ... 32 V. 1891-1900 . ..... .... ....... 38 VI. 1901-1920 . 45 VII. 1921-1940 . .................... .......... 52 CONCLUSION ........ ............... ......... 62 APPENDIX A: CHRONOLOGY OF KALAMAZOO AND BRONSON PARK EVENTS, 1829-1940 • • 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY , . 73 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION Just south of Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo lies a green shady rectangle Called Bronson Park. Along the western and north­ ern sides are four stately churches and a sand-colored Art Deco county Building. A large glass and chrome business complex, a brick Y.W.C.A., a parking lot and a public library/museum fill the Rose Street frontage to the east. The lots along South Street are occu­ pied by an old residence converted into a private club, a city hall, a church, an auditorium, and an art center. Each of these public buildings looks out over the neat pathways and trees of Bronson Park. Alongside picnic tables, park benches, and trash cans in the park are a variety of historic markers commemorating noteworthy events or individuals. In one corner of the park is a grassy, cir­ cular mound about four feet high, believed to have been built by prehistoric Indians. The paths of the park converge in the center at two fountain sculptures. To the east is Alfonso Ianelli's Pio­ neer Fountain, designed to incorporate earlier electrically lighted waterworks. In what was originally a reflecting pool for Ianelli's fountain, Kirk Newman created a series of bronze figures of small children. The people of Kalamazoo have been using Bronson Park for well over a century for political rallies, picnics, concerts, fairs, celebrations, and relaxation. But how many of the citizens today 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. are aware that the area was not originally intended to be a park? It was designed to hold a school and a jail. Only by conscious effort were these buildings removed and the land converted into a park. Its fate in the early days was uncertain, but the citizens liked the idea of a New England-style commons in the village cen­ ter. Affluent gentlemen built their homes across the park from the churches and courthouse. The city preserved Bronson Park for the next 130 years by responding to the changing needs of the people. The park's appear­ ance altered as did the purposes for which it was used. But the significance of the park lies in the fact that it remained an im­ portant place in the heart of the city and of the people. The green, open space survived. This paper is a history of the devel­ opment of Bronson Park from its beginning in 1829 to the start of the second World War. The park started as an unmowed field and ended as the focus of a cultural/governmental center. Although further changes have taken place since 1940, these have merely re­ affirmed Bronson Park's role as of that time. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I 1829-1844 Titus Bronson traveled through what is now downtown Kalama­ zoo in 1829. He camped near the Indian mound and at some point re­ solved to live there.1 Bronson's vision of a village at that loca­ tion took shape when he and his brother-in-law, Stephen Richardson, filed a plat map on 12 March 1831. Their 160 acres, including Bron­ son's original campsite, was located in southwest quarter of Sec­ tion 15 Township 2 South, Range 11 West in the County of Kalamazoo.2 Bronson took the east 80 acres and Richardson kept the west half. Thus the town was platted, its streets laid out in a grid pattern, and four prime sixteen-rod lots donated for public use. Sites on the south side of Main Street were reserved for the first four re­ ligious organizations electing to build.