The Hamilton Block, later known as the Cornwell Building, was built in 1882 across from the Cook House Hotel. The first floor housed the Postal Telegraph Cable Co. in the 1890s, a bowling alley for a time, and later the Cornwell Coal Co. When . . . — — Map (db m171576) HM
On the northeast corner of Ann St. and Fourth Ave. is the structure built in 1836 to house the short-lived Bank of Washtenaw. A stuccoed Greek Revival building, it was remodeled as a residence in 1847 for local businessman Volney Chapin, whose . . . — — Map (db m171332) HM
As laid out by village founders John Allen and Elisha Rumsey in 1824, the county courthouse block was to be a spacious town square surrounded by commercial blocks. Until the 1950s, Courthouse Square hummed with the activities that made Ann Arbor the . . . — — Map (db m181748) HM
In 1921 the Colored Welfare League bought the Kayser Block on North Fourth Ave. (above right) and used it as a center to help settle black workers who migrated to Ann Arbor in the 1920s. It gradually became an African American community center . . . — — Map (db m171335) HM
Town and gown came together on State Street after 1870 to create Ann Arbor's second shopping district. Grocers, barbers, and tailors served both communities, while billiard parlors, dining halls, bathhouses, and bookstores catered to the growing . . . — — Map (db m178069) HM
Michigan’s Anti-Slavery Society was born in Ann Arbor in 1836. Starting in 1841, its weekly newspaper, The Signal of Liberty, was published in the Huron Block on Broadway by Rev. Guy Beckley and his co-editor Theodore Foster in an office . . . — — Map (db m181964) HM
In honor of the founders of Acacia, the National Council of the Fraternity has caused this tablet to be erected on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the order at the University of Michigan, where the Fraternity was instituted.
• . . . — — Map (db m181713) HM
Lower Town founder Anson Brown erected the first mill on Broadway in 1832 where Sinclair's mill was later located (labeled above). As shown in this 1870s photo of Lower Town and the Huron River from the hill above Plank Road (North Main Street . . . — — Map (db m181979) HM
Residents living on the west side in the 1870s drove their buggies or walked across the bridge over Allen Creek, climbing the Liberty Street hill to join the celebration of German American Day. In the distance you can see the rooftops of their . . . — — Map (db m94376) HM
Innovative education has been connected to this site ever since the Union School opened in 1856 as a school for all grades (inset above). Ann Arbor's Argus newspaper reported people "moving here to take advantage of our model Union . . . — — Map (db m177609) HM
In 1908 you could hop on an open-air trolley, ride to the fairgrounds (later Burns Park), and, for 10 cents, see a baseball game. Electric streetcars ran in Ann Arbor from 1890 to 1925. From Main Street, cars followed Detroit Street down to the . . . — — Map (db m155528) HM
Ann Arbor's Art Moderne-style bus depot, touted as one of the most up-to-date in the country, was officially opened in September 1940. A large crowd of dignitaries and admirers assembled as the mayor cut a maize and blue satin ribbon stretched . . . — — Map (db m156631) HM
New York native Anson Brown erected his Exchange Block on Broadway in 1831-32 (see map). He was determined to make this side of the river, Lower Town, the center of Ann Arbor. Where the Potawatomi Trail crossed the Huron River, a wooden bridge . . . — — Map (db m181982) HM
The founding meeting of the Michigan Antislavery Society was held in the First Presbyterian Church, located on this site, on November 10, 1836. Delegates from six counties elected officers and adopted fourteen resolutions denouncing slavery. This . . . — — Map (db m181689) HM
By the late 1870s, Ann Arbor was a thriving and prosperous business center. The streets facing Courthouse Square contained some of the town's grandest commercial buildings. Originally, the northwest corner of Main and Huron was the site of a . . . — — Map (db m163838) HM
Civic leader Silas Douglas, dean of the UM medical faculty and twice mayor of Ann Arbor, lived in this home at 502 East Huron Street from 1848 until 1902. His three daughters, Kate, Marie, and Louise, shown here around 1890, enjoyed the luxuries . . . — — Map (db m125168) HM
The land for this cemetery was deeded to the First German Evangelical Society of Scio Township in 1833. The first burial was held in 1834. Bethlehem Cemetery is considered to be the one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Washtenaw County. It . . . — — Map (db m176550) HM
In the late 1820s and early 1830s many German Protestant immigrants settled in the Ann Arbor area. Desiring to worship in German, they wrote to Switzerland's Basel Mission to request a pastor. On August 20, 1833, the Reverend Friedrich Schmid . . . — — Map (db m155464) HM
In 1832 Anson Brown, his brother-in-law Edward L. Fuller, and Dwight Kellogg were partners in presenting their ambitious plans to incorporate and develop the area north of the Huron River as the first addition to the Village of Ann Arbor. Streets . . . — — Map (db m181983) HM
Washtenaw County solved a dilemma in 1954. By the terms of town founder John Allen's original gift, proceeds of the sale of the Courthouse Square land might go to Allen's heirs, not to the county, if it were sold for other use. That . . . — — Map (db m156710) HM
Four years after Ann Arbor's First National Bank was established in 1863 under strong new federal banking laws, dry goods merchant Philip Bach and foundry owner Volney Chapin joined other local investors to build a brick business block to house . . . — — Map (db m181746) HM
Large, luxurious homes with extensive grounds lined Washtenaw Avenue when UM Librarian Andrew Ten Brook built his mansion across the street in the 1860s. Financial hardship soon required Ten Brook’s wife to open a boarding house, providing meals . . . — — Map (db m134521) HM
Ann Arbor's Carnegie Library (above), serving both the high school and the general public, opened in 1907. It was the only library donated by Andrew Carnegie that was attached to another building.
Earlier, in 1866, thirty-five women had put . . . — — Map (db m177618) HM
Ann Arbor's early centers for communications, including newspaper, postal, and telegraph offices, were all located in buildings facing Courthouse Square. The telegraph line between Detroit and Ann Arbor was opened on Christmas Day in 1847. The . . . — — Map (db m156638) HM
On August 6, 1845, the first graduation ceremony for the University of Michigan was held in this building, which was then the First Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1817 in Detroit, the first university of the state moved to Ann Arbor in 1837, the . . . — — Map (db m182361) HM
In 1896 the Crescent Works, manufacturers of custom-made corsets and "comfortable waists," moved into the upper floors of the new Pratt Block (above). For a few years the corset salesroom was in the central bay on the street between the Portland . . . — — Map (db m156059) HM
Professor of Agriculture, the first one chosen for this university, he had already won for himself and his studies many friends, and the people were aroused to great hope for this new science. While holding this office for only the second year, he . . . — — Map (db m181724) HM
Originally built by William's son, Fred J. Parker, to produce cider and vinegar. After the cider press was sold, the building was used for storage and to house a grain cleaner. — — Map (db m104732) HM
Behind you, just to your left, the "Ann Street Block" still houses storefronts, offices, and residences. It was built in 1871 as the Hoban Block after fire destroyed earlier buildings. Customers came to butchers, grocery stores, saloons, . . . — — Map (db m171331) HM
Citizens from town, country, and university gathered on Courthouse Square for important civic events. In 1861, friends of the Union assembled there to hear reports of the Confederate army attack on Fort Sumter. On April 15, university president . . . — — Map (db m166696) HM
David T. McCollum was thirty-three years old when he arrived in Ann Arbor from New York State in 1832 with a wife and five children.. The following spring he became the bookkeeper for Anson Brown & Co. McCollum was a leader in the Methodist . . . — — Map (db m181980) HM
November 15, 1982
This Plaque Commemorates The
One Hundredth Anniversary
Of The Founding Of
Delta Sigma Delta
International Dental Fraternity
In Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 15, 1882
Ezra Lincoln Kern, Lyndal Llewellyn Davis, . . . — — Map (db m181692) HM
Little more than four weeks after the sinking of the battleship Maine, volunteers in Company A of the Michigan National Guard posed on the courthouse steps on April 26, 1898, before leaving to fight in the Spanish-American War.
. . . — — Map (db m166773) HM
In its earliest years, the Village of Dixboro was served by "circuit-riding” preachers. The infrequency of these visits and the "occurrence of carousing in the local taverns” led many of the village residents to voice the need for a . . . — — Map (db m171239) HM
In Memoriam Douglass Houghton, M.D. professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology in this University and head of the geological survey in this state. Learned in science, zealous in action while fearlessly engaged in public work, he perished by the . . . — — Map (db m181725) HM
When the Orpheum opened in 1913 at 326 South Main Street, the event drew such a crowd that people had to be turned away. Constructed by clothier J. Fred Wuerth, it was the first theater in town built to show movies. Earlier, one-reel films were . . . — — Map (db m156465) HM
Dry goods were sold on this corner for over 120 years. In 1867 Philip Bach moved his store to this new business block selling fabric, cloaks, blankets, linens, and notions. Ann Arbor once supported as many as fifteen stores selling dry goods. . . . — — Map (db m181813) HM
Side 1
Michigan pioneer Elnathan Botsford settled this site in 1825. Harry Boyd Earhart of Detroit, president of the White Star Refining Corporation, purchased the farm in 1917 and named it "The Meadows." The Olmsted Brothers, nationally . . . — — Map (db m101826) HM
From the hill above Plank Road in the 1870s (North Main Street today), you could look back toward where you are now standing and view sources of Ann Arbor’s early power and transportation. In the panorama find your location, along with the dam, . . . — — Map (db m182210) HM
This plaque marks East University Avenue, which served as the eastern boundary of the original forty acres of land deeded to the State of Michigan in 1837 by the Ann Arbor Land Company for the location of the University of Michigan. — — Map (db m109021) HM
When the Sugar Bowl opened in 1911, it featured homemade ice cream and hand-dipped chocolates made in the Preketes family apartment upstairs. After Michigan went “dry” in 1918, lunch counters and small restaurants like this, many owned by Greek . . . — — Map (db m181812) HM
The first public university in America to award degrees in engineering, the University of Michigan was among the earliest institutions of higher education to offer programs in aeronautical engineering, chemical engineering, computer engineering, . . . — — Map (db m100411) HM
Fred Sipley (circled) was the police marshal before he became the first full-time fire chief in 1889. His successor as chief, Charles Edwards, stands left of the horses in this 1906 photograph. Fires from oil lamps and wood-burning stoves were a . . . — — Map (db m181731) HM
Circuses unloaded near the Michigan Central depot and paraded up Main Streeet to perform at the fairgrounds or on a farm at Packard and Stadium. Exotic animals passed by in fancy wagons, bands played, the calliope blared, and children screamed . . . — — Map (db m155603) HM
The original Medical Building was built in 1850 on the current site of Randall Laboratory, and provided the principal space for lectures, recitations, anatomical dissections, faculty offices, and laboratories from 1850 to 1903. Clinical diagnosis, . . . — — Map (db m108917) HM
First National Building
1929
This Property Has Been
Placed On The
National Register
Of Historic Places
By The United States
Department Of The Interior — — Map (db m181031) HM
This Cornerstone Is
From The Original Church
At Huron and Division Streets.
That Building Was
Demolished In 1935.
The Cornerstone
Was Placed Here In
August Of 2003. — — Map (db m181693) HM
Forest Hill is typical of the "rural tradition" cemetery design which emphasizes its natural setting. This design originated in France and was first seen in Greenwood Cemetery in New York. This cemetery, as well as Highland in Ypsilanti, was . . . — — Map (db m181766) HM
Four World Records
Established on Ferry Field at the Big Ten track meet Ann Arbor May 25, 1935
Broad Jump 26 ft. 8-1/4 inches.
220 yds low hurdles 22.6 seconds.
220 yd sprint 20.3 seconds.
100 yd dash 9/4 seconds.
Jesse Owens 1913 . . . — — Map (db m63269) HM
By 1925, when Theophil Aprill joined with Albert Larmee to found Ann Arbor Exide Battery Service, this neighborhood was already a center for automobile sales, garages, parts, and service—much of it owned and staffed by German Americans. It . . . — — Map (db m156551) HM
Alber & Co., one of the city’s earliest blacksmith and wagon shops, once stood in front of you where State Street ended at Broadway after crossing the railroad. Factories, mills, slaughterhouses, and tanneries operated nearby as well as three . . . — — Map (db m182208) HM
In 1929 long-distance buses replaced the electric interurban for travel between Ann Arbor and other cities. The first interurban in the state had linked Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti in 1891. Junius Beal, UM Regent and one of the main stockholders, . . . — — Map (db m156609) HM
Walker's, opened in 1907, was one of the city's largest liveries, with more than thirty horses and a wide variety of buggies, wagons, and sleighs for rent. Adelbert Walker lived next door and took great pride in his two teams of white Arabian . . . — — Map (db m177083) HM
Can you imagine your whole family living in this cabin? The simple interior of this one room log cabin included a ladder to a loft area and a small coal stove. William Parker built the cabin in 1878 for relatives who planned to emigrate from . . . — — Map (db m104795) HM
This plaque is issued by the
Historical Society of Michigan
in recognition of
FUMC's BSA Troop 4
founded in 1917
for more than 100 years of
continuous operation in service
to the people of Michigan
and for contributing . . . — — Map (db m177771) HM
Founded in 1832 by John and Robert Geddes, the agricultural milling hamlet of
Geddesburg illustrates the tradition of water-power economic opportunity which spurred westward expansion in 19th century America. Traversed by two Native American . . . — — Map (db m171187) HM
Fred Wagner's blacksmith shop was one of many German-owned west-side businesses providing services for horse-drawn vehicles. Wagner repaired carriages and wagons and shoed horses. Nearby livery stables rented out horses and carriages. Around the . . . — — Map (db m156535) HM
Born in Maine in 1804, Felch graduated from Bowdoin College in 1827. Entering the legal profession, he moved to Michigan in 1833 and after 1843 resided in Ann Arbor. A lifelong Democrat, Felch was governor in 1846-47, serving previously as justice . . . — — Map (db m109001) HM
A two stone grist mill was built by William Q. Parker for purpose of grinding feed and corn meal. Operated as a commercial flour mill from 1910-1956, it was restored in 1984. — — Map (db m104733) HM
As Ann Arbor grew, stores that once offered a variety of general merchandise began to specialize in groceries, dry goods, or hardware. In 1878 Christian Eberbach took over Widenmann and Schuh’s store and turned it into the largest of downtown’s . . . — — Map (db m181815) HM
Harris Hall was built in 1886 as a student center to "establish Christian teaching in the midst of a great secular university." Funds were raised from all over the country by Michigan Episcopal Bishop Samuel Harris. As a parish house for St. . . . — — Map (db m101026) HM
Lower Town has the largest number of early houses still standing in Ann Arbor. Most of the ten houses shown above were built by 1837, the year Michigan became a state. Two of them have been moved to other Ann Arbor sites and one to Henry Ford's . . . — — Map (db m181981) HM
Streets surrounding Courthouse Square were the site of most of Ann Arbor's largest hotels from the 1830s until 1990. Cook's Hotel was the first of five that have occupied the site before you. It was followed in 1871 by the larger "Cook House," a . . . — — Map (db m157643) HM
The Solution
A lot went into creating this beautiful setting on the river. In collaboration with the Southeast Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council, the Nichols Arboretum used this project to demonstrate principles of soft . . . — — Map (db m161980) HM
University of Michigan Graduate, Naturalist & Gardener
Hoyt Garrod Post loved to walk the banks of the Huron River. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School in 1907, Hoyt spent many enjoyable hours hiking this area, . . . — — Map (db m104840) HM
In the year 1900, the first building erected on this site was the two story office and residence of Victor C. Vaugh, M. D.
From 1905 thorugh the early part of the twentieth century the building was occupied by various Ann Arbor businesses, . . . — — Map (db m177344) HM
Native Americans came from the northeast down the Pontiac Trail from the east down the Broadway hill following a trail that went through what later became Plymouth, and from the southeast up the Huron River along the Potawatomi Trail from what . . . — — Map (db m181976) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m156468) HM
Here at 2:00 AM on October 14, 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy first defined the Peace Corps. He stood at the place marked by the medallion and was cheered by a large and enthusiastic student audience for the hope and promise his idea gave the world. — — Map (db m181719) HM
To the memory of Joseph Whiting A.M. Minister of the Gospel who after he had filled the office of president of an academy of the University of Michigan in exemplary fashion then was selected for the chair of Latin and Greek in that same university. . . . — — Map (db m181728) HM
Cast iron grilles in an ancient Greek floral motif highlight the frieze of this temple-front Greek Revival house. Built in 1853 for Henry D. Bennett, Secretary and Steward of the University of Michigan, it became the home and studio of local . . . — — Map (db m125085) HM
University of Michigan alumnus William W. Cook (1880, 1882law) believed that the character of the legal profession depended on the character of Law Schools, and that the character of the Law Schools forecasted the future of America. In support of . . . — — Map (db m100342) HM
Originally located on the north side of Geddes Road, this cabin was built in 1878 to house a visiting relative from England, but later used for storage and to house farm help. — — Map (db m104796) HM
On the site in front of you in 1860, William Sinclair built the flour mill shown above and circled in the birdseye on right. Lower Town founder Anson Brown had erected the first mill here in 1833. Brown dammed the Huron River upstream to create . . . — — Map (db m183336) HM
When this photo was taken in 1893, "Lost in New York" was playing at Hill's Opera House at the southwest corner of Main and Ann streets. Down the block, Charles J. Shetterly, barber, offered billiards and hot and cold baths, and students and . . . — — Map (db m171570) HM
In 1871 tavern keeper and developer Henry Binder replaced the old house on this corner with an elaborate three-story brick building (inset upper left). Plank sidewalks, hitching posts, dirt streets, and gas lamps were typical of the era. As . . . — — Map (db m155604) HM
Manufacturing shaped the life of Lower Town after the Civil War. In 1866 Lewis Moore and his son Eli began building an agricultural implement factory on the north bank of the river on the site of the old Chapin Paper Mill. By 1896 the Ann arbor . . . — — Map (db m182444) HM
Side 1
The Martha Cook Building first housed women students of the University of Michigan in 1915. New York lawyer William W. Cook, a Michigan alumnus, donated the building. The Collegiate Gothic residence was named for Cook's mother, . . . — — Map (db m93666) HM
James A. McDivitt, Jr. (BSE AeroE '59, Hon PhD Astro Sci '65)
Edward H. White, II (MSE AeroE '59, Hon PhD Astro Sci '65)
On June 8, 1965, during their second orbit around Earth, command pilot James A. McDivitt controlled the spacecraft . . . — — Map (db m181701) HM
On this site, in 1836, delegates from all parts of Michigan met in Washtenaw County's first courthouse to consider a proposal by Congress for settling the boundary dispute between Michigan and Ohio. Both claimed a narrow strip of land, including the . . . — — Map (db m156703) HM
Built in 1886, and conceived by Frederick Spier, the design of this granite block building was influenced by the Romanesque style of the great American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. The massive arch and two-foot thick walls are balanced by . . . — — Map (db m51751) HM
In September 1899 Michigan mayors--led by William Baum Sr., of Saginaw, and George Perry of Grand Rapids--formed the Michigan Municipal League in Grand Rapids, to help local governments deal with increased demands from population growth and new . . . — — Map (db m182894) HM
This plaque honors the Michigan Summer Symposium in Theoretical Physics, 1928-1941, under the leadership of Harrison Randall. During this period virtually every world-renowned physicist lectured at the symposium, which played a critical role in . . . — — Map (db m100470) HM
The University of Michigan Union was founded in 1904 to unite men's student organizations, and to promote university spirit and social interaction among Michigan men. In 1906, the Union organization acquired the home of Judge Thomas M. Cooley for . . . — — Map (db m178555) HM
The Michigan Union
75th Anniversary
Founded June 20, 1904
Rededicated Octorber 12, 1979
As
The Home Of Campus Life For Present
Past, And Future Students Of The
University Of Michigan
And
As A Unifying Force In The Life Of Its . . . — — Map (db m181720) HM
At this site the first Jewish cemetery in Michigan was established in 1848-49. The Jews Society of Ann Arbor acquired burial rights to this land adjacent to what was then the public cemetery. Several years earlier, immigrants from Germany and . . . — — Map (db m127346) HM
Centuries ago, Indian trails crossed the landscape of Washtenaw County. These paths connected Indian villages to fertile hunting and fishing grounds throughout Michigan. When settlers arrived in the County during the 19th century, these same . . . — — Map (db m104642) HM
The 1963 City Hall, designed by architect Alden Dow, became an instant magnet for demonstrations. Even before landscaping was completed, picketers began protesting to end discrimination in rental housing based on race, creed, color, or national . . . — — Map (db m181732) HM
The Village of Dixboro was primarily a farming community, revolving around the mills located on Fleming Creek. It remained that way until 1925 when Plymouth Road was constructed. The Oak Grove Cemetery Company of Dixboro was organized on February . . . — — Map (db m171241) HM
The Ann Arbor Guard and the Ypsilanti Light Guard formed a procession to honor former President Grover Cleveland before he delivered the annual Washington's Birthday Address at University Hall, February 22, 1892.
This speech marked the . . . — — Map (db m166583) HM
Detroit Edison sold electric home appliances from 1915 to 1983 in its showroom across the street. The earliest Ann Arbor homes were lit by fireplace flames and lard lamps. Oil, along with gas manufactured after 1858 from the burning of coal, lit . . . — — Map (db m155484) HM
Horace H. and Mary A. Rackham, generous donors to the University of Michigan, established the Rackham Fund in 1933 “for the benefit of humanity.” Feeling that the graduate school offered possibilities of the most far-reaching benefits, . . . — — Map (db m65357) HM
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