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    Downtown Ann Arbor
    Downtown Ann Arbor
    Downtown Ann Arbor
    Ebook185 pages52 minutes

    Downtown Ann Arbor

    By Patti Smith and Mayor John Hieftje

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    About this ebook

    In 1824, John Allen and Elisha Rumsey established the first homestead in what is now downtown Ann Arbor. The story goes that the community got its name when the two founders wives, both named Ann, were seen lounging in a grove of trees. In reality, Ann Allen and Mary Ann Rumsey were never in town at the same time, but how it actually was named is unimportant when considering what Ann Arbor grew into. Early settlers gave the town schools, an expansive courthouse, a beautiful post office, and streetcar lines that spanned downtown. They built this town, and their legacy is present in every walk up Huron Street, drive down to William and Main Streets, or bike ride over to Kerrytown.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateNov 3, 2014
    ISBN9781439648124
    Downtown Ann Arbor
    Author

    Patti Smith

    Patti Smith is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary mergence of poetry and rock and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Her seminal album Horses, bearing Robert Mapplethorpe’s renowned photograph, hasbeen hailed as one of the top one hundred albums of all time. Her books include M Train, Witt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence.

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      Book preview

      Downtown Ann Arbor - Patti Smith

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      One

      NORTH-SOUTH STREETS

      When John Allen and Elisha Rumsey bought the land that became Ann Arbor, they needed to divide it, hence Division Street. Headed west from Division Street, the streets were simply numbered Fifth, Fourth, Third (alternately called Main Street), Second, and First.

      In the 1840s, William Maynard began to plat what is now called the Old West Side. Heading west from First Street, Maynard created a mirror image of Allen’s original system, using Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh as street designations. This created confusion, so at some point Maynard asked the city to designate the original Fourth and Fifth Streets as avenues, and they are called such today.

      Second Avenue has a different name today: Ashley Street. In 1889, it was renamed in honor of James Big Jim Ashley, whose Toledo and Ann Arbor Railroad depot was located on that street. Big Jim Ashley was also a congressman from Ohio and the governor of the Montana Territory; however, he liked Ann Arbor so much that he moved

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