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Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti (/ˌɪpsəˈlænti/ IP-sə-LAN-tee), commonly shortened to Ypsi (/ˈɪpsiː/ IP-see), is a city and college town located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Charter Township and on the west, south, and east by Ypsilanti Charter Township (a separately governed municipality). Ypsilanti is a part of the Ann Arbor–Ypsilanti metropolitan area, the Huron River Valley, and the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor combined statistical area.
Ypsilanti is known for being the home of Eastern Michigan University (formerly the Michigan State Normal College) since the university's founding as Michigan's first normal school (teachers' college) in 1849, its location on the historic Detroit–Chicago Road (now US Highway 12), its historic Depot Town commercial district, and for its distinctive Ypsilanti Water Tower constructed in 1890. The city is closely associated with Ford Motor Company's Willow Run Bomber Plant which manufactured over 8,500 Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers during World War II; Ypsilanti's Ford Lake was created when Ford Motor Company dammed the Huron River to generate hydroelectric power. Ypsilanti is also home to the first Domino's Pizza location, located near EMU's McKenny Student Union in South Campus.
Originally a trading post established in 1809 by a French-Canadian fur trader from Montreal, a permanent settlement was established on the east side of the Huron River in 1823 by Major Thomas Woodruff. It was incorporated into the Territory of Michigan as the village Woodruff's Grove. A separate community a short distance away on the west side of the river was established in 1825 under the name "Ypsilanti", after Demetrios Ypsilantis, a hero in the Greek War of Independence. Woodruff's Grove changed its name to Ypsilanti in 1829, the year its namesake effectively won the war for Greek Independence at the Battle of Petra, with the two communities eventually merging. A bust of Demetrios Ypsilantis by Greek sculptor Christopher Nastos stands between a Greek and a US flag at the base of the landmark Ypsilanti Water Tower.
Elijah McCoy lived in Ypsilanti with his family after moving from Canada following the Civil War. In Ypsilanti, racial barriers prevented him from working immediately as an engineer, so he took a position as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad while experimenting with machinery in a home workshop. It was during this period in Ypsilanti that he developed his first automatic lubricator. Today, Ypsilanti honors McCoy’s connection to the city with a Michigan historical marker at or near his former home and workshop.
In the late 19th century, Ypsilanti became known for producing full-body long underwear called union suits, commonly referred to as "Ypsilanti suits." The garments were made at the Hay & Todd woolen mill, later renamed the Ypsilanti Underwear Company, along the Huron River near Forest Avenue. The suits were displayed at the 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition, (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) in Chicago and distributed internationally, earning the city a reputation for quality garment production. The factory employed many workers, particularly women, and featured a large mural of a union suit visible to passing trains. The company declined in the early 20th century, was sold to the Oak Knitting Company in 1907, and the mill buildings were demolished in 1933. Surviving examples of Ypsilanti underwear are preserved at the Ypsilanti Historical Museum.
Ypsilanti has played an important role in the automobile industry. From 1920 to 1922, Apex Motors produced the "ACE" car. The quarter mile stretch of land along Michigan Avenue became a hub for car dealerships starting in 1912 when the first car dealership opened, and ending in the 1990s when the last dealership closed. This area has been referred to as "The Amazing Quarter Mile" and was eventually added to the Ypsilanti Historic District. This site is part of a collection of parcels known as the Water Street Redevelopment Area. It was in Ypsilanti that Preston Tucker (whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine Tool Company) designed and built the prototypes for his Tucker '48. Tucker's story was related in the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer bought the nearby Willow Run B-24 Liberator bomber plant from Ford Motor Company, and started to make Kaiser and Frazer model cars in 1947. The last Kaiser car made in Ypsilanti rolled off the assembly line in 1953, when the company merged with Willys–Overland and moved production to Toledo, Ohio. General Motors purchased the Kaiser Frazer plant, and converted it into its Hydramatic Division (now called its Powertrain division), beginning production in November 1953. The GM Powertrain Division ceased production at this facility in 2010.
Ypsilanti is also the location of the last Hudson automobile dealership. Today, the former dealership is the site of the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Collection. The museum is the home to an original Fabulous Hudson Hornet race car, which inspired the character Doc Hudson in the 2006 Pixar animated film Cars.
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Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti (/ˌɪpsəˈlænti/ IP-sə-LAN-tee), commonly shortened to Ypsi (/ˈɪpsiː/ IP-see), is a city and college town located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Charter Township and on the west, south, and east by Ypsilanti Charter Township (a separately governed municipality). Ypsilanti is a part of the Ann Arbor–Ypsilanti metropolitan area, the Huron River Valley, and the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor combined statistical area.
Ypsilanti is known for being the home of Eastern Michigan University (formerly the Michigan State Normal College) since the university's founding as Michigan's first normal school (teachers' college) in 1849, its location on the historic Detroit–Chicago Road (now US Highway 12), its historic Depot Town commercial district, and for its distinctive Ypsilanti Water Tower constructed in 1890. The city is closely associated with Ford Motor Company's Willow Run Bomber Plant which manufactured over 8,500 Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers during World War II; Ypsilanti's Ford Lake was created when Ford Motor Company dammed the Huron River to generate hydroelectric power. Ypsilanti is also home to the first Domino's Pizza location, located near EMU's McKenny Student Union in South Campus.
Originally a trading post established in 1809 by a French-Canadian fur trader from Montreal, a permanent settlement was established on the east side of the Huron River in 1823 by Major Thomas Woodruff. It was incorporated into the Territory of Michigan as the village Woodruff's Grove. A separate community a short distance away on the west side of the river was established in 1825 under the name "Ypsilanti", after Demetrios Ypsilantis, a hero in the Greek War of Independence. Woodruff's Grove changed its name to Ypsilanti in 1829, the year its namesake effectively won the war for Greek Independence at the Battle of Petra, with the two communities eventually merging. A bust of Demetrios Ypsilantis by Greek sculptor Christopher Nastos stands between a Greek and a US flag at the base of the landmark Ypsilanti Water Tower.
Elijah McCoy lived in Ypsilanti with his family after moving from Canada following the Civil War. In Ypsilanti, racial barriers prevented him from working immediately as an engineer, so he took a position as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad while experimenting with machinery in a home workshop. It was during this period in Ypsilanti that he developed his first automatic lubricator. Today, Ypsilanti honors McCoy’s connection to the city with a Michigan historical marker at or near his former home and workshop.
In the late 19th century, Ypsilanti became known for producing full-body long underwear called union suits, commonly referred to as "Ypsilanti suits." The garments were made at the Hay & Todd woolen mill, later renamed the Ypsilanti Underwear Company, along the Huron River near Forest Avenue. The suits were displayed at the 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition, (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) in Chicago and distributed internationally, earning the city a reputation for quality garment production. The factory employed many workers, particularly women, and featured a large mural of a union suit visible to passing trains. The company declined in the early 20th century, was sold to the Oak Knitting Company in 1907, and the mill buildings were demolished in 1933. Surviving examples of Ypsilanti underwear are preserved at the Ypsilanti Historical Museum.
Ypsilanti has played an important role in the automobile industry. From 1920 to 1922, Apex Motors produced the "ACE" car. The quarter mile stretch of land along Michigan Avenue became a hub for car dealerships starting in 1912 when the first car dealership opened, and ending in the 1990s when the last dealership closed. This area has been referred to as "The Amazing Quarter Mile" and was eventually added to the Ypsilanti Historic District. This site is part of a collection of parcels known as the Water Street Redevelopment Area. It was in Ypsilanti that Preston Tucker (whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine Tool Company) designed and built the prototypes for his Tucker '48. Tucker's story was related in the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer bought the nearby Willow Run B-24 Liberator bomber plant from Ford Motor Company, and started to make Kaiser and Frazer model cars in 1947. The last Kaiser car made in Ypsilanti rolled off the assembly line in 1953, when the company merged with Willys–Overland and moved production to Toledo, Ohio. General Motors purchased the Kaiser Frazer plant, and converted it into its Hydramatic Division (now called its Powertrain division), beginning production in November 1953. The GM Powertrain Division ceased production at this facility in 2010.
Ypsilanti is also the location of the last Hudson automobile dealership. Today, the former dealership is the site of the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Collection. The museum is the home to an original Fabulous Hudson Hornet race car, which inspired the character Doc Hudson in the 2006 Pixar animated film Cars.
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