Web Design in Vicksburg, MI

About Vicksburg, Kalamazoo County

Vicksburg is a village of 3,706 people at the 2020 census in Kalamazoo County, with its west side in Schoolcraft Township and its east side in Brady Township. It grew around a grist mill on Portage Creek whose dam formed Sunset Lake, and later around a large paper mill. Downtown Main Street and the lake are still the center of village life.

History of Vicksburg

• John Vickers, the village namesake, settled the area in 1831, built a brush dam over the eight-foot waterfall on Portage Creek and put up a log grist mill believed to be the first mill in Kalamazoo County. The dam's pond became Sunset Lake, and pioneers built homes and businesses around it.
• The village was incorporated as Brady on October 18, 1871. One day later a petition passed to rename it Vicksburg.
• Vicksburg Community Schools was founded in 1846. Consolidation of the surrounding rural one-room districts into the Vicksburg district came in 1947.

Landmarks and Places in Vicksburg

• Sunset Lake, created by John Vickers's mill dam on Portage Creek, with the village on its shore.
• Lee Paper Company Mill Complex at 300 West Highway Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Thirty mostly interconnected buildings of cream-colored brick sit on a 30-acre parcel, most of them built in 1904.
• Vicksburg Historic Village, an open-air museum run by the Vicksburg Historical Society near downtown, with a restored train depot, a one-room schoolhouse and a general store.

The Vicksburg Economy

• The Lee Paper Company mill ran until 2001, through mergers into Simpson Lee Paper in 1959, Simpson Paper in 1971 and Fox River Paper in 1996. A mixed-use redevelopment named The Mill at Vicksburg was announced for the property in 2017, and the site currently hosts an artist residency.
• Angel's Crossing Golf Course, community-owned, covers about 350 acres along Portage Creek and Barton Lake.
• The village sits in the Kalamazoo-Portage metropolitan area, with Kalamazoo County farmland around it.

Community Life in Vicksburg

• Vicksburg Community Schools serves the village and the surrounding area. Vicksburg High School, Vicksburg Middle School and Sunset Lake Elementary School are all inside the village, with two more elementary schools in nearby rural areas.
• A classic car show is held each year on the second weekend in June.
• The Vicksburg Lions Club hosts an annual summer festival at the Vicksburg Recreation Park, beginning the third Thursday in July, with a beer and bratwurst tent, family night, volleyball and horseshoe tournaments and live music.

Local reference: en.wikipedia.org, vicksburgmi.org, en.wikipedia.org