Wolbers Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection contains documents relating to Wolbers shopping center which was located in Portage, Michigan. The dates of the documents range from 1905 to 1992.
Dates
- Creation: 1905-1992
Creator
- Wolbers family (Family)
- Wolbers Shopping Center (Portage, Mich.) (Organization)
Biographical / Historical
The Wolbers opened the first shopping center in Portage; it was first opened as a general store in 1916. This store was also the first Spartan store in portage. The Wolbers owned and operated this store, Wolbers for 51 years until June of 1967. Wolbers sold a variety of things from grocery items to other items such as garden tools, auto supplies and gas. Henry Wolbers and his parents moved from the Netherlands with him in 1897. Henry met his wife Etta in Portage and opened Wolbers general store. They had two children, Harold in 1919 and Robert in 1927. Henry and his son Robert entered into a partnership in 1953 and increased the size of the store.
Extent
1 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
This collection is .25 cubic feet and fits in one box. This collection is in decent shape, many of the newspapers are yellowed. A few photos have been folded and are worn. In addition to newspapers and photos, the collection also includes postcards, copied newspaper clippings and additional documents pertaining to the Wolbers shopping center and their family.
- Title
- Wolbers Collection Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Stephanie Davis
- Date
- 2013-03-11
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu