Best View in Kalamazoo: WMU's East Hall

I graduated from Western Michigan University in 2003, and I worked at the Archives Library during most my undergraduate days. Kalamazoo holds a special place in my heart, particularly the campus and surrounding hangouts.

My absolute favorite spot in the entire city is East Hall, part of WMU’s historic - and often forgotten - East Campus. Built in 1903 as the original Western State Normal School, East Hall once housed classrooms where future teachers honed their craft on area school children.

Unfortunately, East Campus has fallen into disrepair, now crumbling and segregated from the main campus. At times there has been a push to restore the old campus, spearheaded by the Friends of East Campus group, a collection of alumni and concerned citizens aiming to restore the dilapidated buildings and get the students back on East Campus - but for now only a proud few ever visit.

Highlights of East Campus include graduate student art exhibits, the Archives Library, secret underground tunnels, beautiful architecture, the old library stacks of North Hall, and the fantastically disturbing fact that WMU’s first president Dwight B. Waldo’s ashes are encased in the building walls.

And the best East Campus attraction, my personal favorite – the view from the top of the hill. WMU’s mascot was once “The Hilltoppers,” named for the hill East Hall sits on. The hill provides a spectacular panoramic view of downtown Kalamazoo. Unless you’re at a lake, this is undoubtedly the best lookout in the state of Michigan. Visit during the summer and you can even heckle the football team working out on the practice field at the bottom of the hill.

There was a time when a trolley car brought students up and down the hill, and there was a time when WMU had a unique nickname (Boo, Broncos – Yeah, Hilltoppers). But East Hall still stands tall over Kalamazoo, the view is still great, and lovers of East Campus still hold out hope.

To learn about the history of the building and the campus, I highly recommend visiting my former employer, the Archives and Regional History Collection. The Archives Library is located in the old gymnasium and provides a great resource for area historians and curious tourists – and the climbing ropes are still hanging from the gym ceiling.

*This post was originally published a few years back. Seemed fitting that the first "archives" post would be about the archives.