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Image is from a Kalamazoo Buggy Co. ad
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI
GENEALOGY & LOCAL HISTORY
USGenWeb
a hint
for new visitors be sure to check the Resource page
and Message Boards
| Kalamazoo County is located in SW
Michigan. Kalamazoo is the name of the county, largest city, and
main river. It was organized in 1830 from St. Joseph County -
see the History
pages.
Kalamazoo County is named for the river that runs through it, the Native American form of which was probably "Ke-Ken-a-ma-zoo." A widely used translation is "boiling water" . Among other possible translations are "otter tail" and "reflected river"
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Famous statements about Kalamazoo:
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"In the whole wide world there is only one Kalamazoo." Willis Dunbar, Kalamazoo and Michigan Historian. "Yes, Kalamazoo is a spot on the map...Listen with your ears on a Saturday night in Kalamazoo. And say to yourself: I hear America..." Carl Sandburg, The Sins of Kalamazoo |
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Site Dedication This site, Kalamazoo County Genealogy & Local History, has been recognized by its parent organization, USGenWeb; each month the USGenWeb Newsletter spotlights a county website or two in the from all the counties in country as worth of some recognition In the October, 2006 Newsletter, USGenWeb spotlighted Kalamazoo County's site:Dedication to Richard L.
'Dick' Branch "The Kalamazoo County, MI site was overseen by Dick Branch. Mr. Branch was responsible for Kalamazoo County for about 6 years, first taking over in the year 2000, at which time he reported the site had "only a few pages." Antique postcards illustrate this site from a collection of images he acquired over the years. Dick was also an amateur photographer and had taken photos of Kalamazoo since the 1960's. This county site uses tables to display the extremely varied information located here, as well as links to other web sites containing history of the community, photographs and vital record information. The county history pages were Dick's favorites, and he reported that the Kalamazoo Mall and Theater Views garnering many hits at this site. Mr. Branch was constantly revising and adding to the site, his mission was to consistently "improve the download times and readability of the image rich pages." For Dick, it was very rewarding to build a site and assist his visitors with their genealogy research. This is a site well worth visiting, cram packed with wonderful data about Kalamazoo. It is easy to see that he loved this county." Never having the priveldge of meeting Dick Branch, it is evident to all viewers that he had a true gift in his website and photography of Kalamazoo County. This site is dedicated to his memory and the 6 years he kept the site looking wonderful and full of information and resources. So perhaps we do know this man. He must have been very caring about history and passing the torch to future generations; so they might find their ancestors and know of the community they once came from. Knowing I have some very big shoes to fill, I humbly will maintain the site in the preserving all of Dick's work and adding new entries as they are donated to this site. Beverly Edwards - new Kalamazoo County GenWeb Coordinator. |
