KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI
GENEALOGY & LOCAL HISTORY
MILHAM PARK
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI
GENEALOGY & LOCAL HISTORY
MILHAM PARK
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note: This is not a government web site, for information about use of Milham and other Kalamazoo city parks please visit :http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/government.php?page_id=120 |
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 For the better part of one hundred years, people in Kalamazoo have enjoyed the park located at Lovers Lane and Kilgore Road on the south side of the City of Kalamazoo |
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According
to Willis Dunbar ( Kalamazoo and How It Grew ), "During the term of Mayor
Charles H. Farell, in 1910, a park commission was created and the property
which was developed into Milham Park was purchased." The city had
paid $5000 for the sixty acres of future parkland, but the actual cost was
$10,000 - the $5000 difference was paid by the Park Commission Chairman,
Frank Milham (Living in Kalamazoo , Balls and Lassfolk ) - Frank
Milham was the founder of the Bryant Paper Company and, later, twice Mayor
of Kalamazoo. The chief feature of Milham Park is Portage Creek, which runs through the length of the park. It was dammed to create water views and habitat for waterfowl.
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 The wider creek that resulted from the dam gave opportunity for the picturesque stone bridges, many built in the depression times of the 1930's |
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The creek featured
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Used to create a bathing  |
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 1940's |
 2001 |
1945 "A zoo was opened in 1927 to which William P. Engleman donated two buffalo ( Dunbar, Kalamazoo and How It Grew ). The zoo was part of an improvement program that saw forty acres added to the park. During the depression of the 1930's the zoo was extensively improved through work relief programs that resulted in the many stone structures through out the park. In 1939 several African monkeys were donated to the park zoo. One immediately escaped to the delight of writers at the Kalamazoo Gazette who wrote stories with titles such as "Escaped Monkey Haughty After Capture." Monkeys escaped again in 1970 resulting in similar titles, "Monkeys Flee Zoo." In addition to the monkeys, the zoo also featured a bear pit. In 1974, the city decided to close the zoo and the last bear died in 1977. |
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 Over the years other park features have come and gone such as the log cabin. |
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1911 |
1940's |
1942 |
| In 1958, Marie Lassfolk and Ethel Balls in their book, Living in Kalamazoo, gave a glowing, and justifiable, description of Milham Park: "Milham Park offers a variety of attractions. Outdoor grills and picnic tables make the park ideal for outdoor picnics. A zoo and wading pool for children add to the park's attractiveness as a recreation center". Although the park has changed since 1958, it remains an important recreation center for the City and County of Kalamazoo. |
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There are a number of Milham
Park views at
Kalamazoo Public Library
website
the link above opens in pdf
format
| PARK LINKS | |||
| Lillian Anderson Arboretum at Kalamazoo College | 1. Cold Brook Park - Climax, East MN Avenue at South 42nd Street. | ||
| W.K. Kellogg Biological Station | 2. Markin Glen Park - Kalamazoo Township, North Westnedge Avenue, just north of G Avenue. | ||
| Kalamazoo Nature Center | 3. Prairie View Park - Vicksburg, east of U.S. 131 on U Avenue, between Portage Road and Oakland Drive. | ||
| Kalamazoo County Parks Photographs | 4. River Oaks Park - between Comstock and Galesburg, Morrow Lake, just off M-96 | ||
| The History of Markin Glen County Park | 5. Scotts Mill Park - Scotts, south of East Q Avenue on 35th Street . | ||
| Portage District Library |
6. Recreation Park / Fair Grounds
Lake Street off of Business Route I-94. The Fairground address is 2900 Lake Street see the County Fair page |
To
Portage Bicentennial Park page
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