For anybody who is a fan of educating themselves on the town they live in, a recent video that popped up in my YouTube feed may interest you. I've always been into finding out more about where I'm living. I guess I just find history a fascinating subject, something that's increased with age. A video was posted on YouTube by the Kalamazoo Public Library nearly 7 years ago, and yet I'm only just now seeing it.

The video is called 'Early Kalamazoo': The History of Bronson Park and is hosted by Lynn Houghton, who tells about the park's history and its role as the "heart" of the community over the years. At the time, Houghton was a curator at the Kalamazoo History Museum. You'll learn facts that Bronson Park is actually owned by Kalamazoo County, not the city, and that he may have given them the land, possibly as a bribe. Also, there used to be a jail in Bronson Park back in 1833. The area was known as "Jail Square," until 1845 when it was re-located to be closer to the courthouse. There's also rumor that there weren't even bars on the jail windows WATCH BELOW:  

I'm really interested in this already so I'm gonna take a minute a watch more.

These programs were made possible by a Michigan Sesquicentennial grant from the Michigan Council for the Humanities to the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo. They originally appeared as historical segments in the program "Images and Ideas," and were produced through the facilities of the Community Access Center c.1987. www.kpl.gov

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