Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? The year was 1959. City residents were moving in droves to the suburbs. Downtown areas were experiencing the first signs of decay. The American landscape was, in a word, changing. Progressive leaders in Kalamazoo saw the signs and took the bold step to create something new. Kalamazoo dedicated the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States on Aug. 19, 1959. It remains (mostly) to this day, albeit with the addition of cars. We went into the archives and pulled out some pretty amazing historical photos. MORE ►Historic origin of Kalamazoo Mall featured on PBS ►More on the Kalamazoo Mall | |
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