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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.
About the author
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.
