Editing Kalamazoo, Michigan (section)

=== Economic history ===
[[File:LocomotivCraneDerrickCarSRM.jpg|thumb|[[Canadian National Railways|CNR]] derrick car (Sylvester Manufacturing Company, Kalamazoo Railway Supply Company). Mounted on a push car, pulled with a [[railroad speeder|speeder]] or draisine.<ref name="SRM">{{cite web |title = Welcome to Saskrailmuseum.org |work = Contact Us |date = September 11, 2008 |url = http://www.saskrailmuseum.org/ |access-date = October 3, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081015051856/http://www.saskrailmuseum.org/ |archive-date = October 15, 2008 }}
</ref>]]
In the past, Kalamazoo was known for its production of [[windmills]], [[mandolin]]s, [[Buggy (carriage)|buggies]], [[automobiles]], [[cigars]], [[stove]]s, and [[paper]] and paper products. Agriculturally, it once was noted for [[celery]]. Although much of it has become suburbanized, the surrounding area still produces farm crops, primarily corn and soybeans. Many landmarks and hiking trails are still based around the past celery industry.

Kalamazoo was the original home of Gibson Guitar Corporation, which spawned the still-local [[Heritage Guitars]]. The company was incorporated as "Gibson Mandolin - Guitar Co., Ltd" on October 11, 1902, by craftsman [[Orville Gibson]]. One budget model was named the [[Gibson Kalamazoo Electric Guitar|Gibson Kalamazoo "Melody Maker" Electric Guitar]]. Operations were moved gradually from Kalamazoo to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] (Electric Division) and [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]], [[Montana]] (Acoustic Division) in the 1980s. Some workers from the original factory stayed in Kalamazoo to create the Heritage Guitars company.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.heritageguitar.com/ |title = Heritage Guitar Inc., of Kalamazoo |work = heritageguitar.com |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140517185252/http://heritageguitar.com/ |archive-date = May 17, 2014 |access-date = December 28, 2012 }}</ref>

Kalamazoo was once known as the "Paper City" because of the paper mills in and near the city. The [[Allied Paper Corporation]] operated several mills and employed 1,300 people in Kalamazoo during the late 1960s. As the forests of West Michigan were logged, paper mills closed.<ref>{{cite news |title = Paper Industry Provides 25% of City's Employment |work = Kalamazoo News |date = July 18, 1940 }}{{page needed|date=February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = This is Still the Paper City |first = Al |last = Jones |work = Kalamazoo Gazette |date = March 14, 1999 }}{{page needed|date=February 2019}}</ref>

Early in the 20th century, Kalamazoo was home to the [[Brass Era car]] company [[Barley Motor Car Co.|Barley]].

Kalamazoo was also headquarters of the [[Checker Motors Company]], the former manufacturer of the [[Checker Cab]], which also stamped sheet-metal parts for other auto manufacturers. Checker closed on June 25, 2009, a victim of the [[Late-2000s recession]].