Before the Parchment Community Library (start at the southwest corner of the library)

In 1930 Jacob Kindleberger, head of the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company (KVP), and his wife Lucinda gave 38 acres to the newly-formed village of Parchment to be used as "recreational fields." Where the library stands today was a playground. To the north was Community House. To the south, you can see Mr. Kindleberger's home - the white home behind The Fountains. To the west, KVP's flourishing paper mills could be seen on the other side of Riverview Drive. Look back to the east, and try to imagine the land that would become Kindleberger Park. Eroded hillsides, rocky fields, and cinder piles from the mill's coal-burning power plant were about to be transformed into what Mr. Kindleberger hoped would be the "best little park in Michigan."

Photos: View of Community House and the land behind it from the KVP Smokestack in 1935; Kindleberger Park and the city of Parchment from the KVP Smokestack around 1934