L.G. Bragg & Co. Union Nurseries

by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library

After the Michigan Asylum for the Insane (Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital) opened in 1859, the “road to Genesee Prairie” south of Kalamazoo became known as Asylum Road and remained as such for decades. Today, it’s difficult to imagine how the busy thoroughfare now called Oakland Drive was once little more than a muddy rural road. Yet long before it became a modern residential community, there was big business growing (quite literally) along that old dirt trail. During the 1860s, an enterprising grower from Paw Paw named Leonard Bragg purchased a farm on the west side of Asylum Road near Woods Lake and established a prosperous fruit and ornamental tree nursery. Bragg’s Union Nurseries employed hundreds and grew to be among the oldest and largest fruit and ornamental tree nurseries in the country. Bragg supplied growers throughout the Midwest and along the Eastern Seaboard with prime seedlings and quality nursery stock for more than half a century.

Leonard Gilmore Bragg was born in 1830 in Monroe County, New York. In 1857, he moved to Michigan and began a nursery business near Paw Paw with his older brother P.I. Bragg. After nearly a decade in operation, the brothers parted ways. P.I. Bragg remained in Antwerp Township, while Leonard purchased 83 acres of land south of Kalamazoo from pioneer Smith Wood and established the Union Nurseries with partner Edgar M. Potter. Bragg and Potter soon went their separate ways, but the Union Nurseries flourished and eventually covered most of the land between Woods Lake and the Michigan Asylum with headquarters along the west side of Asylum Road, about where Winchell Avenue is now located. Bragg also leased additional property south of Woods Lake, where he removed the oak timber and planted extensive orchards on the land that would later become the Oakwood Neighborhood.

At its peak, Bragg’s Union Nurseries encompassed more than 300 acres with millions of trees under cultivation, from ornamental hardwoods and evergreens to fruit trees and berry bushes. The company employed more than 100 workers on the nursery grounds and maintained a 150-member sales force that canvassed a dozen states across the Midwest and portions of Canada. The company’s exhibit of fruit trees and evergreens at the 1877 State Fair was called “the smoothest, hardiest, and most healthful ever seen.” To help streamline the transplanting process, Bragg patented a laborsaving “tree-digger” device that when hitched to a team of his prized Clydesdale horses could extract trees from the ground by the row.

In 1886, Bragg formed a partnership with former village treasurer William C. Hoyt and moved his residence and offices to the corner of Main and Elm streets. Although semi-retired by then, Bragg continued to raise his prizewinning Clydesdales while keeping close watch over his nursery operation. Leonard Bragg passed away in April 1907 at the age of 76. Bragg’s orchards eventually became family neighborhoods. Bragg’s home and offices on Main Street were later replaced by a grocery store, which now houses Comensoli’s Italian Restaurant. And if you look carefully, you might still see scattered remnants of Leonard Bragg’s Union Nurseries in the form of the aging apple trees and evergreens that dot the Winchell and Oakwood neighborhoods.

More at kpl.gov

Every so often, Jackie and I will head up to Grand Rapids for the day. If it is warm weather, we sometimes bring bikes and ride around the Heritage Hill Historic District. The neighborhood is chocked full of gorgeous old houses. The District, located Northeast of downtown, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the largest urban historic districts in the U.S. After admiring the beautiful homes, we enjoy a stop at Martha’s Pizza for a delicious slice of pizza or two and grab a scone at the Nantucket Baking Company. Both are located at the corner of Lyon St. NE and Union Ave.

Nearby on Fulton St. East, there are a handful of great stores and another great Bakery-Van’s Pastry Shoppe.

Van’s originally opened in the 1930’s and is the oldest bakery In Grand Rapids. Their display cases are overflowing with dozens varieties of donuts and cookies. The walls are lined with a huge toy and colorful cookie jar collection. The donuts are very reasonably priced from $1.25 to $1.75 for their tasty glazed cinnamon rolls.