Random Galivants Around Ypsilanti

After lunch and a few more pictures in Depot Town, I decided to head to another part of Ypsilanti to take some pictures that I've been meaning to take for a while.  There are some pretty nice houses along Huron Street in Ypsilanti.  Many of them were built in the 1800's and as such have some significance to Ypsilanti history.

 The first place I stopped was the house that currently houses the Ypsilanti Historical Museum.  I didn't go in because it wasn't open yet but I think I'll put it on my list of places to visit.

 The building itself was built by Asa Dow in 1860.  He was a partner of Daniel Quirk and lived in this house while he was in Ypsilanti.  He was the first president of the First National Bank of Ypsilanti.  In 1864, Mr. Dow returned to Chicago after the death of his wife.  In 1865, the house was sold to Mr. Goodrich for $14,000 which at the time was a large sum of money.  Mr. Goodrich came to manage the Follett House which was Ypsilanti's largest and finest hotel.  In 1879, the house was sold to Mr. Barnes who was the superintendent of the Peninsular Paper Company (which has been featured on this blog once or twice).  In 1922, the house was bought and used as a rental even after its sale to the city in 1965.  In 1970, the house was offered to the Ypsilanti Historical Society, who used it for the museum.  In 2006, the house was formally sold to the museum.

 This house was built in 1860 for Daniel L. Quirk.  It is an example of the Second Empire Style and features and Mansard Roof.

 Daniel Quirk Sr. along with Asa Dow was instrumental in establishing the First National Bank of Ypsilanti.  He also had his hand in the Wabash Railroad and creation of the Peninsular Paper Company.  In 1914, this house was donated to the city of Ypsilanti and served as the city hall until 1977.

 This house was built in 1863 by Delos Showerman who was a local haberdasher.  The house is an example of the cubic Italianate style.  In 1908, the house was owned by Daniel Quirk Jr.  One of his daughters would marry G. Mennen Williams who would later become Governor of Michigan and was instrumental in the construction of the Mackinac Bridge.  In 1955, the house was bought by the city.  Quirk was responsible for the addition to the left (not pictured very well).

 I believe this house was built in 1872 for Dr. Watling who was a dentist.  His wife was instrumental in creating the Ladies Library across the street and he was instrumental in creating the dental school at the University of Michigan. 

 This is an example of a Victorian style house.

 I'm not sure about this house.

 St. Lukes Episcopal Church.  This is a mid-Victorian Gothic Revival Church and was built in 1858.  It is Ypsilanti's oldest existing church.

 There used to be a spire here but it was removed due to stresses on the building.  The church would like to restore this.  Based on a drawing, it looks like it was pretty cool.

 Looking up at the spire.

 Some of the stained glass.

 The writing above the door of the priest's house.

 I think this house was built in 1830.   I believe this is a Federal-style house.  Reminds me of houses I"ve seen elsewhere.

 Looking down Huron Street.  I think some of these buildings have significance.

 Another angle of the Watling House.

I'm not sure what house this is but I think it is pretty cool.

 This is the Cornwell Residence.  It was built in 1883 for Cornelius Cornwell who was the owner of a local pulp mill.  It is a Georgian/Queen Anne style house and is said to be the largest between Detroit and Chicago.  It also housed the first telephone in Ypsilanti.

 The Ladies Library started as a house built by Edwin Mills in 1858.  Later this house was occupied by Mary Ann Starkweather and she donated it to the Ladies Library.  It is an example of Italiante architecture. 

 It is a pretty cool looking building.

 With some pretty cool details.

 Just in case you forgot.

 Another view of the Quirk Jr. House.

 And one more shot of the Ypsilanti Historical Museum.

 The old Ypsilanti High School which was constructed in 1849.  In 1973, the high school was moved to its current location.  This building now houses senior citizens.

 A shot of the tower and the snow falling.

 The Ypsilanti Fire Station which was built in 1898.  It no longer serves as a fire station but is a part of the Ypsilanti Fire Museum.

 It is pretty cool looking compared to modern fire stations.

 A closeup of the tower.

 Another view of it.

 To the right you can see the building that houses the museum.

 The Ypsilanti First Presbytarian Church.  Originally built in 1858 and expanded to two spires in 1899.  It is a pretty cool looking building.

 A shot of the pretty cool looking stained glass.

 Looking up at the spire.

 More stained glass.

 A wierd angle for the spire.

 Looking at the other spire.

 Looking down the edge of the building.

 The Ladies Literary Club.  It was founded in 1878 and they purchased this Greek Revival building in 1914.   This building is on the National Historic Registry and I believe has a state marker.

 The First Methodist Church.  It's amazing how cool the architecture of some of the churches is but I guess when you're building something for God, you're going to do your best.

 A shot of the spire.

 Looking up at the spire.

 The Church was built in 1891.

 Looking up at the stained glass.

 Another odd angle for the spire.

 Another shot of the Ladies Library.

 And a brief wandering to Eastern's Campus and Welch Hall.

 Boone Hall.

 Another shot of Welch.

 Ned's Bookstore.  I've bought a few books here in my day.

 And no tour of Ypsilanti would be complete without a picture of its most famous landmark.

 The tower was completed in 1890 as part of an elaborate water works.  Its designer was William R. Coats.

 Many jokes are made about the tower because of its shape.

But I still think it's pretty cool.

I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of Ypsilanti.  Sadly for as much as I covered today, I still feel like I only scratched the surface.

Lunch at Sidetrack

After a few pictures, it was time for lunch.  Since I haven't been there in a while, I decided to have lunch at Sidetrack.  They have a pretty awesome burger.

 I've been coming to this place for at least 20 years.  And for the most part, the inside hasn't changed all that much.

 Given its name, there has to be some railroad paraphernalia.

 Lunch was pretty good too.  I believe they were voted as one of the top 20 burgers in America by GQ magazine.

 A shot of the bar from one angle.

And another.  I think I like this shot a little better.

The Wolverine Passes Depot Town

Anyone who has followed this blog for any period of time knows that I like trains.  As I was wandering around Depot Town, I heard the distinctive town of a train horn as it was approaching town.

 So of course, I had to get into position to get a picture of it.  Fortunately, I was in a spot where I could do that.  I'd say the train slowly approaches but it didn't.

 Kicking up a bit of snow as it passes the Depot.  Got to love a picture of a depot when you can get a train passing it.

 A closeup of the engine.  It was pretty cool because the horn was blaring.

 And it starts to pass by.

And one more shot as it continues on to Chicago.  Hopefully I will be riding the Wolverine soon.

Random Wanderings Around Depot Town

Today was Shiver on the River at the Aquarium on Belle Isle but Mother Nature decided to leave a little gift for us and I didn't feel like heading down to Detroit in that.  So I decided to stick around town today and I was feeling kind of bummed about that but then I remembered that there are some pretty cool photo subjects around here.

 I decided that I would do lunch at Sidetrack which meant that my day would start out in Depot Town.  Why is it called Depot Town you ask?  Well let me tell you.  There happens to be a train depot there.  Pretty clever of them?  Anyway, this isn't the Depot, this is the Freight House which is across the tracks.

 The Ypsilanti Freight House is part of the railroad complex that was built by the Michigan Central Railroad.  The first line from Detroit to Ypsilanti was built in 1838 and the first train arrived in February of that year.  This Freighthouse was built in 1878.  Currently it lays fallow as they are in the process of renovating it.  During the spring, summer and fall, the Farmer's Market is held in this area.

 And here is the train depot.  It was built in 1864 by the Michigan Central Railroad.  In 1939, a train collided into it and it was extensively rebuilt.  In 1984, Amtrak discontinued its Ypsilanti service and sold the depot in 1987.  It has remained unused since then.

 I've heard rumors that Amtrak may bring back the Ypsilanti stop.  That would be cool.  I like the Ann Arbor station but this is much closer for me and the parking situation would probably be better.

The Michigan Central itself was incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit and St. Joseph.  It then connected to Chicago by ship.  It started as the Detroit and St. Joseph in 1831.  The railroad ran into problems acquiring cheap land and had to be bailed out by the city of Detroit and the State of Michigan in 1837.  At this time, it was named the Central Railroad of Michigan.  By 1840, the railroad ran out of money after reaching Dexter, MI.  In 1846, the railroad was sold to Michigan Central after reaching Kalamazoo.  Eventually the railroad would reach Chicago.

 The passenger service between Detroit and Chicago was known as the Wolverine (and still is).

 In 1867, the Michigan Central was taken over by the New York Central but was operated as an independent subsidiary.  The New York Central then merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central.  That folded and became Conrail.  In 1998, the line was taken over by Norfolk-Southern.  Such is the life of many railroads.

 Another view of the caboose.

 The New York Central began life as the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad in 1826.  It was chartered to connect Schenectady to Albany.  It was an attempt to replace part of the Erie Canal.  In 1847, it became the Albany and Schenectady Railroad.  Various other railroads were formed that were similar to this arrangement.

 In 1867, these various local railroads were merged to form the New York Central system.  Also at this time, the railroad was acquired by Cornelius Vanderbilt and he went about acquiring railroads outside of New York.  By 1876, it went from New York to just past Minneapolis.  With the advent of the freeway, the New York Central started to fall on hard times.  In 1968, the New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central Railroad.  This didn't last long as the Penn Central Railroad still had many of the problems of it's consituents.  There may have also been some financial shenanigans.  In 1976, the US Government formed Conrail to absorb Penn Central.  If this didn't happen, rail service in the northeast would have ceased.  In 1998, Conrail was dissolved and it's lines split up between Norfolk-Southern and CSX.

It's kind of a shame to not see some of the great names of American history anymore but at least some of the railroads are maintaining the history of these old railroads.  I would love to see one of the Norfolk-Southern heritage trains find its way to this area.

 So now we get to Depot Town itself.  Many of the buildings were built in the mid to late 1800's.

 Seriously, one of these days, I should try to seek out this paint billboards.  I know there are quite a few in Detroit.  I think there are some in Ann Arbor.

 City Body was formed in 1930.  I've had to use them once and they did a pretty good job with my car.  It was them that told me about mini-torts with insurance.

 Looking down the street at Depot Town itself.

 This clock tower was built in 1997 but is supposed to be a reminder of a similar one from the 1800's.

 Another view of the freighthouse.

 Some other buildings.  Like I said before, I think there is a set of blueprints somewhere that says, "Quaint Midwestern Town" as many towns in this area look similar.

 A shot of the storefronts.

 Looking down the street from the clock tower.

 Looking west from the clock tower area.

 Another shot with the clock tower.

 This building now houses the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum.  Before that, this was the last Hudson dealership in the country.

 The Thompson Block had its origins across the street from the current building when Mark Norris decided to built a hotel there in 1838.  The Michigan Central acquired this land in 1860 and Mr. Norris built the current structure pictured here in 1860.  During the Civil War, this was used as a mustering point.  In 1869, this building was bought by Oliver Thompson.  It was fine for a while and then there were problems.  In 2009, this building caught fire and it looks like it was mostly repaired.

 Another shot of the Depot.

 Another shot of the Hudson building.

 I kind of liked the transparent reflective here.  But I think I would have liked it more if that jerk photographer weren't in the way.

 Same with this one, only that jerk photographer made his presence more known.

 A shot of the sign.

 I love neon.

 Another shot of the building itself.

 One more attempt at the transparent reflective.  This time the jerk photographer got out of the way.

 A shot of Depot Town from in front of the Thompson building.

 Another shot of the freighthouse.

 Another set of buildings in Depot Town.  Sadly the bright colors don't go with the blah day.

 And a shot of the front of Sidetrack.

 Another angle of the colorful buildings.

And one last shot of Depot Town.  Well last for today anyway.