Depot Town

42°14′45″N83°36′33″W / 42.245961°N 83.609143°W / 42.245961; -83.609143

Depot Town is a commercial area, with some residences above storefronts,^[1] in Ypsilanti, Michigan's historic district. Depot Town proper consists of East Cross Street from the Huron River to North River Street, and a small area on the 300-block of North River Street. However, several blocks in the surrounding area are also commonly referred to as part of Depot Town. These areas include Riverside Park, Frog Island Park (both of which are on the Huron River), and River Street extending north and south for several blocks. First established in the late 1830s, most of the buildings standing today were constructed between 1850 and 1880. Over the years, Depot Town has included hotels, an Underground Railroad station, an American Civil War barracks, and a building that has housed a bar and restaurant continuously for more than 150 years, switching to soft drinks during Prohibition. Today the area is dominated by restaurants and stores. Depot Town also hosts several large summer festivals each year, as well as weekly bike nights and cruise nights.

In the 19th century

In 2011

The Mill Works Building now houses the Ypsilanti Food Co-op and the River Street Bakery.

Depot Town was created after the Ypsilanti Train Depot was opened in 1838. As the railroad connected Ypsilanti, MI with Detroit, the area surrounding the depot grew.^[2] The commercial community known as Depot Town was built over the thirty years following the arrival of the railroad,^[3] and most of the buildings standing today were built from 1850 to 1880. In the early years, Depot Town included a flour mill, a large farmers' store, an iron foundry, a fire department, a clothing store, and paved streets.^[4] Ypsilanti's original city hall and jail were built just across the Huron River from Depot Town on West Cross Street.^[5] As the depot was built one mile north of the Chicago Road (now Michigan Avenue), the community of Ypsilanti was split between competing locations.

One of the earliest developments of note in Depot Town was the Western Hotel, built by Mark Norris. Opening in May 1839, the Western Hotel stood on a triangular plot west of River Street and north of the railroad track. Around 1860, the Michigan Central Railroad bought the land to replace the old wood plank depot with a newer, more modern brick depot. Norris demolished his hotel and carried the bricks across River Street, where he built a three-story Italianate structure, which became known as the Norris Block.^[6]

In early 1860, Depot Town experienced a large fire, which spread sparks so far that a barn one-third of a mile away was destroyed.^[7]

Tunnels, originally built for water drainage, passed beneath the railroad and ran between the Thompson Block and the businesses on Cross Street, and were used as hiding places by escaped slaves, who hid by day and then rode boats down the Huron River by night.^[9] Leonard Chase, a known abolitionist, also operated a station on the Underground Railroad from 1841 to 1860, hiding escaped slaves in his home near the depot.^[10] Also during the American Civil War, the Norris Block was used as a barracks by two regiments: the Fourteenth Michigan Infantry Regiment in early 1862, and the Twenty-Seventh Michigan Infantry Regiment in 1863. Oliver E. Thompson bought the building in 1869, and as it passed down through several generations of the Thompson family, it eventually became known as the Thompson Block.^[6]

The Michigan Central Depot was widely known for the gardens which surrounded it. The longtime gardener, John Laidlaw, built enormous arrangements that evoked Niagara Falls, the battleship Maine, and well-known landscapes.^[8]

By the 1950s, railroad traffic declined and parts of Depot Town began to fall into disrepair. The Thompson Block was put up for sale in 1950, standing vacant for more than a year. A series of businesses opened and closed in the building, with none finding lasting success. In the late 1960s, landlord David Kircher bought the building, using it as a warehouse. From 1996 until 2005, the building was tied up in legal disputes. Kircher was found guilty of demolition by neglect, and first Barnes and Barnes and then Beal Properties were named receivers. In May 2006, Stewart Beal purchased the building outright.^[6]

Amtrak passenger trains continued to stop in Depot Town until the early 1980s, ending round trip stops in 1982, with the eastbound train, the Michigan Executive, making its last Ypsilanti stop in 1984.^[11] In the March 2016, local, state and federal officials formally began the process of proposing the return of Amtrak service to Depot Town.^[12] The city council approved $2 million toward the construction of a platform adjacent to the Maple Street parking lot which would be served by Wolverine service, with possible future use by the proposed Ann Arbor–Detroit Regional Rail between Ann Arbor and Detroit.^[13] The earliest service could begin would be December 2017.^[13] Early preparation for the reintroduction of service has included the closing of two railroad crossings at Park and Groves streets in July 2016.^[14][15]

The original Michigan Central Depot, from which the area took its name, no longer stands,^[3] but it was between the northeast side of the tracks and the west side of River Street, directly across from the freighthouse,^[8] since replaced by a parking lot. The freighthouse, built in 1878, does still stand, and the area immediately around the freighthouse is home to the Depot Town Farmers' Market,^[3] one of two farmers' markets in Ypsilanti. Also in the freighthouse courtyard, a caboose sits parallel to Rice Street.

The freighthouse was closed in 2004 due to safety concerns. In early 2009, the city of Ypsilanti and the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse received more than $600,000 (~$850,136 in 2024) for repairs to make the freighthouse usable again.^[16]

At the northeast corner of Cross and River Streets stands the Thompson Block, a historic building which was used as barracks in the Civil War. The Thompson Block suffered a bad fire early in the morning on September 23, 2009,^[17] and the temporary supports reaching into adjacent streets, installed shortly after the fire to stabilize the structure, blocked westbound traffic on Cross Street for more than three months^[18] and have resulted in legal tussles between the city and the property owner.^[19]

En la esquina suroeste de la misma intersección, el edificio que alberga el Sidetrack Bar & Grill —que ha funcionado como bar y restaurante de forma continua desde al menos 1850— tiene una forma inusual resultante de un descarrilamiento de tren en 1929. En una mañana de principios de enero, el duodécimo vagón, cargado de madera, de un tren de carga de 85 vagones se salió de las vías y se estrelló contra la esquina del edificio. La dueña del edificio, que vivía justo encima de la sección impactada, resultó ilesa, pero la mayoría de sus pertenencias personales quedaron esparcidas por la calle. Solo había unas pocas personas cerca del cruce ferroviario cuando descarriló, incluyendo una joven de 18 años que quedó inconsciente y un hombre que estaba sentado en su coche, pero que logró escapar ileso. ^{[ 20 ]} Cuando los actuales propietarios fueron a construir un patio en el lugar, encontraron que algunos de los escombros se habían acumulado debajo, lo que dificultó cavar los agujeros para los postes. ^{[ 21 ]} En 1931, la entrada del edificio se trasladó del lado este a su ubicación actual en el lado norte para cumplir con una ley posterior a la prohibición que exigía que las entradas de los bares estuvieran al menos a 500 pies de cualquier iglesia. El patio trasero se construyó después de que la iglesia cercana se incendiara. ^{[ 21 ]} Según Linda French, propietaria de Sidetrack, las paredes del primer piso tienen tres ladrillos de espesor, y los ladrillos más antiguos que aún se conservan datan de la década de 1850. ^{[ 22 ]}

En la esquina sureste de las calles Cross y River, el Museo del Patrimonio Automotriz de Ypsilanti se ubica en el último concesionario de Hudson Motor Car Company . En 1927, el negocio abrió sus puertas como "Hudson Sales & Service", convirtiéndose en "Miller Motors" en 1955. Tras la desaparición de la marca Hudson en 1958, Miller Motors continuó ofreciendo servicio y repuestos para coleccionistas de Hudson. ^{[ 23 ]}

En el lado este de River Street, al sur del Museo del Patrimonio Automotriz de Ypsilanti, al otro lado de las vías del tren, se encuentra el Edificio Mill Works, originalmente una fundición, que alberga la Cooperativa de Alimentos de Ypsilanti y la Panadería River Street, propiedad de la cooperativa. En el techo del Edificio Mill Works, Solar Ypsi instaló 12 paneles solares para la cooperativa en abril de 2009, seguidos de 30 paneles para la panadería en 2010, produciendo un total de 8,3 kilovatios durante las horas de máxima luz solar. ^{[ 24 ]} Los datos de los medidores se pueden consultar en el sitio web de Solar Ypsi, lo que permite comparar la generación de diferentes sitios. ^{[ 25 ]}

La mayoría de los edificios en Depot Town tienen dos o tres pisos. En el extremo este, el edificio del Museo del Patrimonio Automotriz de Ypsilanti es de un solo piso. Al este de la calle Rice, el edificio que da a la calle Cross desde el norte tiene cuatro pisos, mientras que el almacén de carga que se encuentra detrás es de un solo piso alto. Hacia el extremo oeste de Depot Town, a ambos lados de la calle Cross, hay varias estructuras de un solo piso, de construcción más reciente que los edificios más altos.

Depot Town se encuentra inmediatamente al noreste del centro de Ypsilanti. Frog Island y Riverside Parks, ambos en el río Huron , están inmediatamente al oeste de Depot Town y a menudo se consideran informalmente parte del distrito. Un puente de tres vías, conocido como el "tridge", conecta los dos parques y Depot Town sobre el río Huron. Justo después de Riverside Park, el Museo de la Estación de Bomberos de Michigan se encuentra en la esquina de Cross Street y Huron Street. Prospect Park , el parque más antiguo de Ypsilanti, ^{[ 26 ]} está a una cuadra al oeste de Depot Town en Cross Street. La cervecería Corner Brewery, justo al norte de Depot Town, también se asocia comúnmente con el distrito, y el cementerio Highland está a media milla al norte de Depot Town en River Street.

Depot Town también se encuentra a media milla al sureste del campus de la Universidad de Eastern Michigan . Durante la "Orientación para Nuevos Estudiantes", Eastern les proporciona a los estudiantes certificados de regalo llamados "Ypsibucks", que pueden canjearse en numerosos restaurantes de Depot Town y del centro de Ypsilanti. Los estudiantes aprovechan ese día, conocido como "Ypsifest", para recorrer la ciudad y familiarizarse con Ypsilanti. ^{[ 27 ] [ 28 ]}

In addition to antique stores, a Michigan artisan market (The Eyrie), tattoo parlor, record shop, fly fishing store, one of Ypsilanti's two farmers' markets & a variety of services including massage therapy, Russian ballet instruction, and motorcycle/auto repair; Depot Town is home to several well-known restaurants. Depot Town's newest restaurant MAIZ Mexican Cantina opened June 2014 serving fresh from scratch Mexican fare complementing the other institutions on Cross St. Sidetrack Bar & Grill has occupied the southwest corner of the River Street-Cross Street intersection since 1980,^[20] while Aubree's Saloon is in the last building on the north side of Cross Street. The Ypsilanti Food Co-op, established in 1975, moved into the Mill Works Building in the 1980s and in addition to groceries, sells sandwiches, salads, soups, and fresh bread from the bakery next door.^[3][29]

The River Street Bakery, also in the Mill Works Building and now owned by the Co-op, claims to have the only wood-fired brick oven in commercial use in Washtenaw County. Originally called the Depot Town Sourdough Bakery, the bakery was founded by Tom Kinney as an independent cooperative non-profit with a $20,000 loan from the Cooperative Whole Grain Education Association and pledges from prospective customers. To stretch the limited funds, the brick oven was built by hand in 1989. From the beginning, the Ypsilanti Food Co-op retailed the bread.^[30]

The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum is housed in the world's last surviving Hudson Motor Car Company dealership,^[3][31] across the street from the Thompson Block.

The Depot Town Farmers' Market, one of Ypsilanti's two farmers' markets, began near downtown in 1919, moving several times before settling in the freighthouse in the late 1970s. Inside the freighthouse, the market operated year-round, and included a coffee shop and frequent live music. Since the 2004 closure of the freighthouse due to structural concerns, the farmers' market has operated seasonally only, in the courtyard just outside the freighthouse.^[32]

Due to Michigan's cold winter, the majority of Depot Towns events are held from late March to early October. There are many events that take place in and around Depot Town such as the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival, Michigan ElvisFest,^[3] the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival,^[3] Tuesday "bike" night, and Thursday "cruise nights".^[33] Depot Town is also home to vintage car shows, concert band, jazz band, orchestra concerts, and an annual dog parade.^[34]

The Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival, established in 1997, is held in Riverside Park on the fourth Saturday (and the Friday evening before) of July. Beginning in 2008, the Brewers Guild set a goal to operate its beer festivals as "zero-waste" events. They work closely with local recycling and composting companies, such as Recycle Ann Arbor, to manage the removal of any plastic, aluminum, paper, and food waste to ensure that as much of it as possible is recycled, composted, or used as animal feed. This has been achieved by requiring vendors to biodegradable plates and flatware.^[35] Also, unlike many such events, the festival is self-supporting without any outside sponsors.^[36]

In 2010, the festival drew about 9,000 attendees, despite "sweltering heat, torrential downpours, an overflowing Huron River, power blackouts and the possibility of tornadoes".^[37] Fifty-four Michigan breweries served around 350 different beers that year.^[37]

Founded in 1999, the Michigan ElvisFest is an annual two-day festival held in July in Riverside Park and Depot Town. Established to replace the previous Ypsilanti-based music festival, the Bob Marley Festival, ElvisFest has grown to be the largest Elvis festival in North America, attended by approximately 10,000 fans each year.^[38] In addition to Elvis impersonators, ElvisFest also often includes performances by Tom Jones and Roy Orbison impersonators.

Held each year on the last weekend of August, the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival sprawls across Frog Island Park, Riverside Park, Depot Town, and downtown Ypsilanti. The festival includes events such as vintage base ball, a bed race, a hot dog eating contest, a rubber duck race, and the "Nightmare Cruise" (a spoof of the Woodward Dream Cruise from Pontiac to Detroit).^[39]

Each summer since 1997, Riverside Park hosts the Orphan Car Show. The show includes a parade and presentations by automotive historians about defunct car brands. Discontinued models of ongoing brands are accepted if they were made in Ypsilanti, and foreign vehicles are allowed if they are no longer sold in the United States.^[40]

• Depot Town community websiteArchived May 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine — community development dept.