Kalamazoo is the largest city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,145. It is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI MSA, which had an estimated population of 323,264 as of 2007.

Kalamazoo is home to Western Michigan University, a nationally recognized research institution that has benefited from the local presence of Pfizer, Eaton Corporation and Stryker Corporation. This has enabled the school to offer strong programs in both its College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Haworth College of Business.

The city is also home to Kalamazoo College (often referred to as "K College"), a liberal arts school located adjacent to WMU's campus.

Name origin

Main: Etymology of Kalamazoo

The city is named for the Kalamazoo River, but there is debate as to where the name Kalamazoo actually comes from. It is generally thought the name originates in the language of either the Potawatomi or Odawa peoples who were native to the area at the time of European settlement.

The common phrase "from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo" resulted from the strange name, and has served to enter it into pop culture. Today, t-shirts are sold in Kalamazoo with the phrase "Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo".

There are numerous songs that reference the city name in lyrics and title, including: "All Over The World" by Rascalz, "Down on the Corner" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "I've Been Everywhere" by Hank Snow and Johnny Cash; "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" by Glenn Miller; "Kalamazoo" by Ben Folds Five; "Kalamazoo" by Primus; "Kalamazoo" by Luna; and Kalamazoo by Mike Craver on his album "Shining Down". The word also features in the opera Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass. An indie film, Kalamazoo?, features the city as a backdrop.

History

The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency still remains in the form of a small mound downtown in Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to decline at some point after the eighth century and was replaced by other groups. The Pottawatomi culture was resident in the area at the time the first European explorers arrived.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle is recorded as having passed through the area, just southeast of the present city, in late March, 1680. The first Europeans to reside in the area were itinerant fur traders in the late 18th and early 19th century. There are records of several traders wintering in the area, and by the 1820s at least one trading post had been established.

During the War of 1812, the British established a smithy and a prison camp in the area.