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    Battle Creek
    Battle Creek
    Battle Creek
    Ebook148 pages48 minutes

    Battle Creek

    By Kurt Thornton

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    About this ebook

    In the 1960s, Battle Creek was a successful industrial town known around the world as the Cereal City due to the area s largest employers, the ready-to-eat breakfast food companies of Ralston Foods, the Kellogg Company, and the Post division of General Foods. As these long-established businesses began to downsize, automate, and relocate, the community met the new economic and social challenges by developing a downtown pedestrian mall, converting a former military base into a vibrant industrial park, and merging two municipalities into the third-largest city (by area) in Michigan. These changes, along with many others, have continued to guide this Midwestern community into the 21st century.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateApr 7, 2014
    ISBN9781439642849
    Battle Creek
    Author

    Kurt Thornton

    Kurt Thornton, known for the illustrated calendars he has produced for over 30 years, has spent a lifetime enjoying the history of his hometown, a passion he learned from his mother, Frances Thornton, a historian and collector of �anything to do with Battle Creek.� He was recently honored by his alma mater by being inducted into the Battle Creek Central High School Hall of Fame for his work to preserve history.

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      Book preview

      Battle Creek - Kurt Thornton

      collection.

      INTRODUCTION

      By the middle of the 20th century, Battle Creek had been an area for entrepreneurs, religious leaders, businesspeople, and families looking for a place to earn a living and raise their families, much like it had been since its founding in 1831. By 1960, the metropolitan area’s population was approximately 80,000. The region was divided into five governmental units: Battle Creek Township, Emmett Township, Pennfield Township, the City of Springfield, and the City of Battle Creek. Quite often, these separate governing bodies worked toward the common goal of improving the metropolitan area; sometimes, they did not.

      Beginning in the 1960s, the area’s largest employers were all involved in the ready-to-eat cereal business. The Post Division of General Foods, the Ralston/Purina Company, and the Kellogg Company made Battle Creek the nation’s unofficial Cereal City. Young people across the country saved box tops and mailed them to Battle Creek for the premiums the cereal companies offered to entice children to buy their products. That made Battle Creek one of the best-known cities of its size in the world. Many popular television programs were sponsored by the local companies, which used the city’s name in their commercials.

      In the early 1960s, one of the city’s largest projects involved moving a river to prevent recurring flooding. The city’s central business section was built in an area where the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers joined. It was this source of water flow that powered the early mills and industry. The problem was that the river courses were curved, and those curves caused water to back up, resulting in flooding. The worst flood occurred in 1947.

      The $7 million Kalamazoo River Channel Diversion Project moved that river away from downtown through a cement channel. The confluence of the rivers was moved west of downtown. Along with the flood-control project, completed in 1962, a few hundred low-income homes that were located in the flats (the low land near downtown) were demolished as part of urban renewal.

      As baby boomers (the generation of Americans born between 1945 and 1965) grew up, the city grew along with them. It created a spreading urban landscape, with an automobile-centered lifestyle and many new schools to accommodate the exploding population. Because of population flight from the central city, many businesses began to move with their customers. Quite often, affluent residents were the citizens able to afford the newer homes in outlying areas. What is sometimes termed white flight left the city with a poorer population and a deteriorating infrastructure and tax base. What had once been the heart of the city’s business and social activities was being deserted. Many buildings were torn down or boarded up.

      Throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, efforts were made to consolidate the separate units of government or to merge them into one metropolitan body. Elections were held, but none of the groups would vote together. Sometimes, the townships would vote in favor of centralization, and the city would vote against it. At other times, the city would vote for unification, and the townships would vote against it. No consensus was reached until the early 1980s.

      In 1981, the city’s largest employer, the Kellogg Company, made a decision to build a new world headquarters building. It was revealed that three locations were being considered. One potential site was outside of Battle Creek, another was in an area of land to the west of the city in the Fort Custer Industrial Park, and the other location was in downtown Battle Creek. The company decided that to make the downtown site a viable location, the separate local governments needed to stop arguing among themselves and come together to show an ability to deal with issues affecting their future. A phrase was chosen to promote the merger: "Unify and

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