Old West Side in Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Industry and Recreation on Allen Creek
Photographed by Joel Seewald, August 30, 2020
1. Industry and Recreation on Allen Creek Marker
Inscription.
Industry and Recreation on Allen Creek. . In 1925 King-Seeley, inventor and manufacturer of the first dash-mounted gas gauges for autos, moved into the old Krause tannery building with its tall smokestacks on Second Street (right rear). By 1940 the factory had expanded east to First Street with the five-story facility shown above. It was downtown's last factory in 2005, when the tannery wing was demolished and the remainder remodeled for housing. Allen Creek and its west-side tributaries once provided water for mills, tanneries, foundries, and breweries. The Ann Arbor Railroad, which followed the creek valley, attracted manufacturing, warehouses, and lumber and coal yards. Dean and Co., Main Street's premier grocery, had warehouses on the creek near the railroad. , , The creek also provided recreation. Early residents bathed in a "little, octagonal, white frame building with a sharp little spire in the middle and Victorian scrolls" that was built over the creek near the corner of West Liberty and South First. Downstream, they skated on the millpond north of Miller and First. , , In 1897 Fred Weinberg enlarged a spring-fed pond next to the creek on South Fifth Avenue at Hill Street for swimming and ice skating. In 1909 he cemented the sides and bottom of the pond and then added a high-diving tower, a giant water slide, and an indoor ice rink called Weinberg's Coliseum. In 1920 it hosted UM's first ice hockey games. , , Top left image caption: , The warehouses and siding for Dean and Co. are to the left, looking south where the railroad crosses First Street. In the distance the depot is also left of the tracks with the tall water tank and freight house to the right. , , Bottom left image caption: , Allen Creek ran between Dean's Oil and Gas storage building (left) and its brick grocery warehouse (right). Oil was pumped through an underground pipe up to the store at 214 South Main Street. , , Right image captions: , Before Fred Weinberg cemented the pond, his nephew Jonas Otto earned a penny a frog to capture its original inhabitants. Brother-in-law Louis Otto's band provided live music for skating. , , Sponsored by Morningside Group , , Photos courtesy of Mrs. Nate Weinberg and the Bentley Historical Library
In 1925 King-Seeley, inventor and manufacturer of the first dash-mounted gas gauges for autos, moved into the old Krause tannery building with its tall smokestacks on Second Street (right rear). By 1940 the factory had expanded east to First Street with the five-story facility shown above. It was downtown's last factory in 2005, when the tannery wing was demolished and the remainder remodeled for housing. Allen Creek and its west-side tributaries once provided water for mills, tanneries, foundries, and breweries. The Ann Arbor Railroad, which followed the creek valley, attracted manufacturing, warehouses, and lumber and coal yards. Dean & Co., Main Street's premier grocery, had warehouses on the creek near the railroad.
The creek also provided recreation. Early residents bathed in a "little, octagonal, white frame building with a sharp little spire in the middle and Victorian scrolls" that was built over the creek near the corner of West Liberty and South First. Downstream, they skated on the millpond north of Miller and First.
In 1897 Fred Weinberg enlarged a spring-fed pond next to the creek on South Fifth Avenue
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at Hill Street for swimming and ice skating. In 1909 he cemented the sides and bottom of the pond and then added a high-diving tower, a giant water slide, and an indoor ice rink called Weinberg's Coliseum. In 1920 it hosted UM's first ice hockey games.
Top left image caption:
The warehouses and siding for Dean & Co. are to the left, looking south where the railroad crosses First Street. In the distance the depot is also left of the tracks with the tall water tank and freight house to the right.
Bottom left image caption:
Allen Creek ran between Dean's Oil and Gas storage building (left) and its brick grocery warehouse (right). Oil was pumped through an underground pipe up to the store at 214 South Main Street.
Right image captions:
Before Fred Weinberg cemented the pond, his nephew Jonas Otto earned a penny a frog to capture its original inhabitants. Brother-in-law Louis Otto's band provided live music for skating.
Sponsored by Morningside Group
Photos courtesy of Mrs. Nate Weinberg and the Bentley Historical Library
Location. 42° 16.784′ N, 83° 44.984′ W. Marker is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in Washtenaw County. It is in the Old West Side. It is at the intersection of South Ashley Street and West Liberty Street, on the right when traveling north on South Ashley Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 122 West Liberty Street, Ann Arbor MI 48104, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Michigan and in Greater Detroit. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 19, 2020, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan. This page has been viewed 515 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on September 19, 2020, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.
