What is This Building? (Breaking News: mystery solved!)

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What is This Building? (Breaking News: mystery solved!)

January 31, 2013 by Luanne

This photo was captured digitally from glass negatives taken by Joseph DeKorn about one hundred years ago. Does anyone recognize this building from Kalamazoo? I would like to know what it is. Is it a school?

The mystery has been solved, thanks to Laura C. Lorenzana @ArchivalBiz. Her fabulous blog is The Last Leaf on This Branch.

This is South Burdick Street School, which was located at the northwest corner of Burdick and Cork streets, and was torn down in 1957. Grades were K-8. I am doing more research. Thanks, Laura!

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Photography early 20th century | Tagged family history, genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo school, old photos | 16 Comments

16 Responses

on January 31, 2013 at 6:24 am | Reply Mom

I suppose that “Pretty” doesn’t count as an answer….but it is!
on January 31, 2013 at 7:51 am | Reply currentdescendent

Haha, I know! I like that answer. I still hope eventually somebody can name this building. It has a lot in common with photos I’ve seen of old schools in Kalamazoo.
on January 31, 2013 at 8:05 am | Reply jeannieunbottled

Yes, it looks like a school. I wonder if it was on Burdick Street. This is just a wild guess out of the blue.
- on January 31, 2013 at 8:21 am | Reply currentdescendent
  
  I had thought at first that it was McKinley school (Burdick and Emerson) where I attended for first grade, but there was an entrance on the side I don’t see here, plus the positioning doesn’t seem right and the building seems too tall. That was 52 years ago so my impression of the building was more from the inside. My mother doesn’t recognize this building and she lived across from McKinley for many years.
on January 31, 2013 at 8:47 am | Reply Laura C. Lorenzana (@ArchivalBiz)

It’s the Burdick Street school…I found an image to confirm on the KPL website: http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=vCXgt6SvOF/CENTRAL/146470103/9

Hope this helps!
on January 31, 2013 at 8:49 am | Reply Laura C. Lorenzana (@ArchivalBiz)

It’s the Burdick Street school…I located an image to confirm on the KPL website: http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=vCXgt6SvOF/CENTRAL/146470103/9

Hope this helps. Jeannie has a great memory!
on January 31, 2013 at 8:53 am | Reply Laura C. Lorenzana (@ArchivalBiz)

Well, I tried to leave a comment a couple of times…hope it doesn’t come through that way! This is the Burdick Street school. I found an image on the KPL website; I tried to add a link here which may be why the comments kept getting bumped out. The number on the photo is WMU-P-351…they have a “Search Local Photographs” option that you should be able to query. Hope this helps.
- on January 31, 2013 at 9:38 am | Reply currentdescendent
  
  Laura, you are great! Thank you so much! I actually can’t find the link on the KPL website, but your information allowed me to do just a random google search. That is amazing. How did you think of that? And do you remember where the link was located on their website? BTW, I love your blog!
on January 31, 2013 at 10:53 am | Reply locksands

I Don’t know the building nut I must do something about my family in Kalamazoo.
- on February 1, 2013 at 10:20 am | Reply currentdescendent
  
  You have family in Kalamazoo?
  - on February 1, 2013 at 11:40 am | Reply locksands
    
    Distant! My 4g grandfather’s cousin emigrated. He got some land at Comstock, Kalamazoo. He was Benjamin Huggett but other members of the family went as well..
on June 13, 2013 at 6:31 pm | Reply Lisa

My mom went to school here. So glad you shared this picture! You should consider sharing it on the “Vanished Kalamazoo” facebook page. Thanks!
- on June 14, 2013 at 1:47 pm | Reply currentdescendent
  
  Oh, Lisa, that’s fabulous! OK, I will try to do that!
on August 25, 2016 at 8:48 am | Reply Joel Clark

If this isn’t the McKinley School at Burdick St. and Emerson; does anybody have a picture of the McKinley School?
- on August 25, 2016 at 10:11 am | Reply Luanne @ TFK
  
  Hi Joel, hope all is well. I went to McKinley for kindergarten :). My mother-in-law Diana Castle painted a picture of McKinley School and my grandparents house (that was across the street). Here is a link: https://thefamilykalamazoo.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/mckinley-by-diana.jpg. I also found these online: http://www.flickrhivemind.net/blackmagic.cgi?id=25659842880&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflickrhivemind.net%2FTags%2Fmckinley%252Cschool%2FInteresting%3Fsearch_type%3DTags%3Btextinput%3Dmckinley%252Cschool%3Bphoto_type%3D250%3Bmethod%3DGET%3Bnoform%3Dt%3Bsort%3DInterestingness%23pic25659842880&user=&flickrurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/137299100@N07/25659842880 and http://flickrhivemind.net/blackmagic.cgi?id=25331927313&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflickrhivemind.net%2FTags%2Fmckinley%252Cschool%2FInteresting%3Fsearch_type%3DTags%3Btextinput%3Dmckinley%252Cschool%3Bphoto_type%3D250%3Bmethod%3DGET%3Bnoform%3Dt%3Bsort%3DInterestingness%23pic25331927313&user=&flickrurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/137299100@N07/25331927313
on March 7, 2018 at 4:24 am | Reply Rosemary Higgins Burke

I know this is late, but this isn’t the South Burdick Street School. I attended Burdick from K-6. It was a 4 room school and one story above ground. The front sidewalk was a semi circle with one side going northeast to Burdick Street and the other side Southeast to Cork Street. Sorry to disappoint