Kalamazoo City Map Poster

About Kalamazoo

The Kalamazoo name comes from a Potawatomi word, first found in a British report in 1772. However, the Kalamazoo River, which passes through the modern city of Kalamazoo, was located on the route between Detroit and Fort Saint-Joseph (now Niles), Michigan used by natives and French missionaries. The first Europeans to reach the area were traders and missionaries who had traveled north from present-day Detroit; most notably Jean Baptiste Bissot (or Père) de la Croix in 1775. The next recorded entry was by Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant (also known as Stukely Westcott or Stuckey) in 1779. Parrant explored what is now Battle Creek before continuing downriver to Grand Rapids where he established a trading post at what became known as "Pig's Eye".