Everything about The Kalamazoo River totally explained
The
Kalamazoo River is a
river in the
U.S. state of
Michigan. The river is 166 miles (267 km) long from the headwaters of the southern branch to
Lake Michigan. The river's
watershed drains an area of approximately 2,020
square miles (5,230 km²) and drains portions of eight counties in southwest Michigan:
Allegan,
Barry,
Eaton,
Van Buren,
Kalamazoo,
Calhoun,
Jackson,
Hillsdale,
Kent and
Ottawa. The river has a median flow of 1863 cubic feet per second (52.8 m³/s) at
New Richmond, Michigan, upstream from its mouth at
Saugatuck, Michigan.
The North and South Branches of the Kalamazoo River originate within a few miles of each other. The South Branch begins near
North Adams in
Moscow Township in northeastern Hillsdale County and flows north and west through
Homer before joining the North Branch at the forks of the Kalamazoo in
Albion. The North Branch begins near Farewell and Pine Hills lakes in southern Jackson County and flows north and west through
Concord before reaching Albion in Calhoun County. It then flows through Kalamazoo and Allegan counties.
After Albion, the Kalamazoo flows mostly westward through
Marshall,
Battle Creek,
Augusta,
Galesburg,
Comstock, and
Kalamazoo. From Kalamazoo, the river flows mostly north until just before it reaches
Plainwell and then flows northwest through
Otsego,
Allegan,
Saugatuck and then into Lake Michigan.
Some of the larger tributaries of the Kalamazoo are Rice Creek, Wilder Creek, Wabascon Creek,
Battle Creek River, Augusta Creek, Portage Creek,
Gun River, Swan Creek, and
Rabbit River.
History
Archeological evidence indicates humans have used the Kalamazoo River basin continuously for more than 11,000 years. At the time of European contact, the Kalamazoo River area was inhabited primarily by members of
Potawatomi tribes. The Jesuit priest Father
Jacques Marquette and his companions were probably the first Europeans to glimpse the mouth of the Kalamazoo in
1675 as they returned from
Illinois. It wasn't until the late
1700s that the area was frequented by fur traders. By the early
1800s, there were several small communities along the river, including Kalamazoo. With the introduction of the railroad in the
1840s, the importance of the river for transportation diminished.
By the mid-1800s, several communities had grown up along the River as mill towns and commercial centers: Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Parchment, Plainwell, and Otsego. After the Civil War and into the
20th century, various industries, from cereal production to pharmaceuticals to automobile parts, flourished. Several communities became sites for paper production, which used the river for water intake and waste discharge.
Deinking practices no longer in use led to
PCB contamination of the river. Sewage effluent, other industrial discharges, and trash also contributed to the pollution of the river. For many years in the
1940s, 50s, and 60s, the river was an "eyesore" and most people did their best to avoid it. Beginning in the
1970s with the federal
Clean Water Act, serious efforts were made to clean up the river. Although today the river is cleaner, the persistent PCB contamination has led to
Superfund designation of a 35-mile section from Kalamazoo to Allegan Dam. Many species of fish inhabit the river including
smallmouth bass,
largemouth bass,
catfish, and many types of panfish. Though populations have increased in recent years due to the cleanup of the river, it's still advised for people to not eat large amounts of fish from the Kalamazoo River, and pregnant women are also advised not to eat any fish from the river due to lingering effects of the pollution in the diets of many fish (particularly bottom feeding fish like catfish which can accumulate high levels of
mercury).
Although the word Kalamazoo appears to be
Native American in origin, the exact meaning is obscure and various definitions have been suggested. See the article on the
Etymology of Kalamazoo for a detailed discussion of name origin theories.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kalamazoo River'.
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