In 1886, the Upjohn Company was established - succeeded by Pharmacia and, subsequently by Pfizer.  Along with the state institutions, it has been the pillar of employment in Kalamazoo County.

The Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, 1933

The Upjohn Company main plant, Portage Road, 1960

Two historical markers on the Kalamazoo Mall note the importance of the importance of the Upjohn Company and its founder, W. E. Upjohn.

Dr. William E. Upjohn (1853 -1932), founder of the Upjohn Company, was known as Kalamazoo's "First Citizen" because of his active role in the community. He helped institute the commission-manager form of government and served as the city's first mayor undr the new system (1918 - 1921). He helped direct the construction of Bronson Hospital (1904) and several area churches (1926). He also established the Kalamazoo Foundation (1925) and the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research (1932). His belief in the " happy use of leisure time" led him to donate the land for Upjohn Park (1919), to help fund an "Art House" (1928) and a municipal golf course (1929), and to build the Civic Auditorium (1931)

Another historical marker for W. E. Upjohn was placed in Bronson Hospital: IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM ERASTUS UPJOHN, M. D. 1853-1932  PHYSICIAN, MANUFACTURER, PHILANTHROPIST HERE HONORED AS A PUBLIC-SPIRITED CITIZEN AND  TRUSTEE OF THIS HOSPITAL  WHOSE CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH THE UPJOHN COMPANY WHICH HE FOUNDED AND THE KALAMAZOO FOUNDATION WHICH HIS FORESIGHT ESTABLISHED, GAVE SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE IN  THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE HOSPITAL AND THE   EXTENSION OF ITS HUMANITARIAN SERVICE.  1950

See:   History of the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ; the KPL Biography of W. E. Upjohn ; the History of the Kalamazoo Foundation ; and A Brief Biography of W. E. Upjohn.

Patrick Norris, Director of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, has written about the early life of W. E. Upjohn in the Museum's publication, Museograpy Volume 3, Issue 2,  Winter 2004 - History by the Ounce - Hasting and Young Dr. Upjohn, summarized here:

William Erastus Upjohn, the son of Dr. Uriah Upjohn, was born in 1853. Uriah Upjohn, emigrated from England, received his medical degree in New York City, and, together with his brothers, moved to frontier Richland, Michigan in the 1830's. Uriah served as a horseback physician to the pioneers and produced remedies from bulk chemicals and medicinal plants. He married Maria Mills from Richland - see her obituary on the Pioneer Society Obituaries pages.  He maintained a life long interest in the practical application of science that he passed on to his children. Four of his children, including William, graduated from the University of Michigan medical school. Uriah purchased a house in Ann Arbor, moving his family there when his oldest son entered college. W. E. worked in a pharmacy while his older brother attended college. After receiving his medical degree in 1875, W. E. joined his uncle William's practice in Hasting. He married and had four children, Winifred Upjohn Light, William Harold Upjohn, Dorothy Upjohn Dalton, and Genevieve Upjohn Gilmore - names to become well known in Kalamazoo.

During his 10 year practice in Hasting, W. E. conducted his own research into the making of medicines. He used his ingenuity to solve two problems with existing medicines: "how to deliver medicine that would dissolve in the body and how to insure precise control over the amount and quality of the active ingredients."

"Struck, he later wrote, by 'the impulse to produce something better adapted to the use of the country physician,' he invented a new way of making and delivering medicine. Rather than start with a paste, Dr. Upjohn introduced a starter particle into a revolving pan. As the pan revolved, the starter was sprayed with powdered medicine and a fine mist, gradually accumulating into a pill of appropriate dosage. Dr. Upjohn built his new pill layer by layer, like a snowball rolling down a hill. The resulting product was essentially dry to begin with and could not dry out over time. It easily dissolved when ingested. It was also friable; it could be crushed under your thumb."

Dr. W. E. Upjohn received a patent for his process in 1885 and founded his pharmaceutical company. 

THE UPJOHN COMPANY  The Upjohn Pill & Granule Company was founded on this site in 1886 by Dr. William E. Upjohn and his three brothers - - Dr. Henry U., Frederick L. and Dr. James T. Upjohn. The pill-making factory began in the basement of a commercial block, where the Upjohn brothers turned out their specialty, "friable pills." By year's end the company employed twelve people, manufactured 186 different medicinal formulas and had moved to a new building on Farmer's Alley. In 1888 the company moved again, this time to Lovell Street, where it celebrated a century of operations in 1986. The Upjohn Company (renamed in 1902) is a world - wide provider of pharmaceutical, agricultural and chemical products, and health care services.

Upjohn expanded its manufacturing facilities to Portage in the 1950's, but maintained research facilities in downtown Kalamazoo.

Various views of the Upjohn Company from the 1970's

Gilmore Bros, dry goods, cloaks, notions, carpets, men’s furnishings

In 1881 John Gilmore, soon joined by his brother James, opened a dry goods store on Burdick Street. Gilmore Brothers grew throughout the 19th century, expanding the goods offered for sale and the facility that housed them. Carrie Gilmore, widow of James, expanded the store into the building shown in the 1913 photograph shown below.

 In 1913, Carrie married W. E. Upjohn linking the best known families in Kalamazoo. Until the post World War II retailing changes, shopping in Kalamazoo usually meant the big downtown department stores and Gilmore's, the largest of all.

Gilmore Brothers 1913 North Aisle, Main Floor of Gilmore Bros. Department Store.  Six Floors and Basement, 240 x 150 ft.

Gilmore Brothers Dept. Store,1964 Once the anchor of the Kalamazoo Mall

 In 1959 Kalamazoo attempted to meet the challenge of suburban malls, super stores and discount stores with a pedestrian mall on Burdick St. naturally with Gilmore's as the anchor retailer - See the Kalamazoo Mall page.
Gilmore Brothers itself expanded with branch stores in suburban malls. One after another the downtown department stores dropped away.

 In 1980, Kalamazoo, including the downtown area and Gilmore Brothers, was struck by a strong tornado - See the Kalamazoo Tornado page.

Gilmore Brothers was resolute in its support of downtown retailing:

At the store's 100th anniversary in 1981, Irving Gilmore said "Gilmore's is Kalamazoo," according to an account in the book 'Kalamazoo: The Place Behind the Products.' "We have been in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo for 100 years and plan to be here for at least another 100. - Kalamazoo Gazette.
In 1999 another Gilmore descendent, Martha Parfet announced the closing of Gilmore Brothers after 118 years:

"Gilmore's has struggled in recent years, closing its department store in Battle Creek's Lakeview Square Mall in 1994 and Gilmore's locations at Maple Hill Mall and Southland Mall in 1995. The closings left the flagship downtown Kalamazoo department store as the last Gilmore's store.

Economics make it impossible to profitably maintain such a large, single-unit, independent department store in a downtown environment...

Since its inception Gilmore's maintained a loyal following by offering personalized service, competitive prices on high-quality merchandise and a first-rate sales staff with clerks often greeting regulars by name and treating strangers like regulars.

"This has been a painful decision," said Parfet, in prepared comments. "However, once a decision such as this is made, it is better for all involved to move forward as prudently as possible" - Kalamazoo Gazette.

Demolition of Gilmores

Final sale at Gilmore's building: Wrecker rescues old bowling alley hidden in department store's interior
Tuesday, August 8, 2000

BY AL JONES
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE

" Old wood stands sentry in a dusty, small room where the walls appear to have been papered back when speak-easies were the only place to get a drink. Access requires knowledge of one or more seldom-used or closed-off stairways inside an old building. Ask someone if they know about the place, and the average reaction is an open mouth.

The location is a bowling alley, actually a six-lane, old-time bowling alley on the third floor of the now-closed Gilmore's department store building. You visited Gilmore's a million times over the years but never saw it? Don't feel bad. Apparently not many people did...

Some remember the alley as that of the old Moose Lodge, last used in the 1950s and '60s. But the second and third floors of the 143 S. Burdick building was apparently the haunt of a men's social club, The Kalamazoo Club, just after the turn of the century (1900, that is)...

The Gilmore's bowling alley was in the center section of the store, up a stairway from what was the men's clothing department and just around the third-floor clothing racks from what was most recently the children's clothing department. That is, before those departments were packed away and the store, which was unable to continue in the face of diminished sales, was closed...