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Michael Reed
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« on: May 11, 2007, 01:38:51 AM » |
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Encore Magazine's editor, Penny Briscoe, has asked me to write a local history article for their Oct. 2007 issue. It will be about Westnedge Hill history with a focus upon Harry den Bleyker, a real estate developer who was descended from Paulus den Bleyker, the original Dutchman to immigrate to Kalamazoo. Harry, with some business colleagues, published a 1913 booklet, entitled "Parkwood." This publication was intended to help sell a new, wooded, "healthful" (in contrast to the cramped, smoky industrial lowlands) housing development at the top of what was then called West Street. Bronson Blvd. was constructed the previous year, in 1912. While focusing upon the year 1913, I plan to use the article as a chance to fill in the Hill's history before and after 1913, too.
Michael Reed
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