Ypsilanti, Michigan

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City of Ypsilanti
City of Ypsilanti
The Water Tower and Statue of Demetrius Ypsilanti.
The Water Tower and Statue of Demetrius Ypsilanti.

Ypsilanti (Ǐp'-sǐ-lǎn-tē) (IPA pronunciation: [ˌɪp sɪ 'læn ti]) is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally a trading post established in 1809 by Gabriel Godfrey, 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 Demetrius Ypsilanti, a hero in the Greek war for independence. Woodruff's Grove changed its name to Ypsilanti in 1829, and the two communities eventually merged.

A bust of Demetrius Ypsilanti stands between a Greek and a US flag at the base of the landmark Ypsilanti Water Tower.

The geographic grid centre of Ypsilanti is the intersection of the Huron River and Michigan Avenue, the latter which connects downtown Detroit, Michigan, with downtown Chicago, Illinois, and is part of U.S. Route 12.

Bust of Demetrius Ypsilanti at the Ypsilanti Water Tower
Bust of Demetrius Ypsilanti at the Ypsilanti Water Tower
Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1930 10,143
–
1940 12,121 19.5%
1950 18,302 51.0%
1960 20,957 14.5%
1970 29,538 40.9%
1980 24,031 -18.6%
1990 24,818 3.3%
2000 22,362 -9.9%
  • 1809 - Trading post established by French-Canadian Gabriel Godfroy from Montreal
  • 1823 - Woodruff's Grove platted
  • April 21, 1825 - Plat recorded under the name Ypsilanti
  • 1827 - Ypsilanti Township organized
  • June 19, 1832 - Village of Ypsilanti incorporated
  • 1849 - Eastern Michigan University founded as Michigan State Normal School
  • February 4, 1858 - Village of Ypsilanti reincorporated as city
  • 1890 - Michigan's first Interurban, the Ypsi-Ann, begins service
  • 1967-1969 - Ypsilanti resident John Norman Collins murders 8 coeds at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University
  • August 2005 - Ypsilanti Youth Theatre debuts its first production "About Ypsilanti - A Historic Melodrama"

[edit] Automotive History

Ypsilanti has played an important role in the automobile industry. From 1920-1922, Apex Motors produced the "ACE" car. It was in Ypsilanti that Preston Tucker (whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine Tool Company) designed and built the prototypes for his "Tucker Torpedo" car. Tucker's story was related in the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges.

In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer bought Ypsilanti's Willow Run B-24 bomber plant 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.

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 site of an original Hudson Hornet, identical in appearance to the one animated in the recent film Cars developed by Pixar.

[edit] Political History

In the early 1970s, along with neighboring city of Ann Arbor, the citizens reduced the penalty for simple possession of marijuana to $5 with the campaign slogan "5 is fine" (the Ypsilanti Marijuana Initiative; see also the Human Rights Party). This fine was raised in the early 1980s to $25 in both Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.[citation needed]

In 1979, Faz Husain was elected to the Ypsilanti city council, the first Muslim and the first native of India to win elected office in Michigan.

In the 1990s Ypsilanti became the first city in Michigan to pass a living wage ordinance.

In the late 1990s, the city adopted an ordinance to ban discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity/transgender status, body weight (i.e., being obese or underweight), and family obligations. Two ballot measures to repeal the ordinance were led and bankrolled by conservative advocates, including Tom Monaghan. Both measures failed, the second by a larger percentage than the first.[citation needed]

[edit] Geography

Location of Ypsilanti, Michigan

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.5 mi² (11.7 km²). 4.4 mi² (11.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 mi² (0.3 km²) is water. The total area is 2.45% water. The Huron River flows through both the City of Ypsilanti and the Charter Township of Ypsilanti.

Ypsilanti is located at 42.24° N 83.62° W, in the western reaches of the Detroit/Windsor metropolitan area. Suburban development between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, via Washtenaw Avenue and Packard Road, has been unbroken since the late 1960s.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 22,362 people, 8,551 households, and 3,377 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,962.3/km² (5,081.5/mi²). There were 9,215 housing units at an average density of 808.6/km² (2,094.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.40% White, 30.58% African American, 0.44% Native American, 3.18% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.32% from other races, and 3.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.47% of the population.

There were 8,551 households out of which 19.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.0% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.5% were non-families. 40.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.9% under the age of 18, 38.2% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 12.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,610, and the median income for a family was $40,793. Males had a median income of $30,328 versus $26,745 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,692. About 16.9% of families and 25.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

[edit] K-12 education

The Ypsilanti area is served by three public school districts: Ypsilanti Public Schools, Lincoln Consolidated Schools, and Willow Run Community Schools.

Ypsilanti Schools draws students from the city proper, western Ypsilanti Township east of Golfside Road, northern Ypsilanti Township east of Prospect, and small parts of the township south of I-94. Willow Run Schools, named after the famous Willow Run bomber plant and airport east of the city, draws students primarily from eastern Ypsilanti Township north of I-94. Lincoln Schools draws students from the township south of I-94.

In recent years, as southern Ypsilanti Township has grown remarkably, Lincoln Schools has grown in tandem, while Ypsilanti and Willow Run have suffered. Both have seen enrollment slides, and both are actively using Washtenaw County's "school of choice" program to market themselves to students from elsewhere. These programs have yielded mixed results.

[edit] Higher education

Sherzer Hall Fire, EMU, March 9, 1987
Sherzer Hall Fire, EMU, March 9, 1987

A college town, Ypsilanti is home to Eastern Michigan University, founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School. Today, EMU has 19,000 undergraduate and over 4800 graduate students.[1] The college is vital to the commercial landscape of the city and keeps the median age in Ypsilanti relatively low.

[edit] Culture

Since 1979, the city has become known for summer festivals in the part of the city called "Depot Town," which is adjacent to Riverside Park and Frog Island Park. Festivals include the annual Heritage Festival, the Elvis Festival, the Orphan Car Festival, the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival, and a Latino festival.

Overlooking Riverside Park is the non-profit Riverside Arts Center. Established in 1994 through the efforts of the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority and several public sprited citizens, the Riverside boasts a 115 seat black box theatre, a sizeable art gallery and some meeting rooms and offices. In 2006 the adjacent DTE building was renovated with "Cool Cities" money and is in the process of being incorporated into the center's activities.

The Ypsilanti Youth Theatre group works as a guild by having area local youth in grades 3 to 12 collaborate and work with various local theatre professionals as well as learning from one another. YYT offers a space within which young people can create and participate in quality performance pieces and explore a variety of drama and theatre techniques.

Fay Kleinman, the internationally recognized painter, moved to Ypsilanti in the late 1980's with her husband, the pianist Emanuel Levenson. They wanted to be near Kleinman's children in nearby Ann Arbor. Since then, Kleinman has had many exhibits in Southeast Michigan, while continuing to exhibit in larger U.S. cities and abroad. The Ypsilanti District Library purchased one of her paintings, which hangs near the entrance to the children's reading room. The East Ann Arbor Health and Geriatrics Center, which serves Ypsilanti, purchased another of her paintings for its lobby.

Domino's Pizza was founded in Ypsilanti in 1960, delivering to students at Eastern Michigan University, although the corporate offices are now located nearby in Ann Arbor Township.

[edit] In music

  • The Ypsilanti City Council declared Lee Osler's "Back To Ypsilanti" the city's official song in 1983.
  • Iggy Pop grew up in a trailer park on Carpenter Road in Pittsfield Township (Ypsilanti) during his teenage years at the start of his music career.
  • Ypsilanti is the subject of Sufjan Stevens' song, "For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti", on his 2003 album Michigan.
  • Cerberus Records released "Ypsisongs" on August 10th, 2006. A collection 16 of songs dedicated to/inspired by Ypsilanti. Artists on this compilation include: Dave Lawson feat. Joiya, Annie Palmer, Emily Jane Powers, Vailcode, Fred Thomas, Ian Loy Saylor of The Rants, The Ups, Drunken Barn Dance, Modernlull, Dirt Road Logic, Scotty Karate, Charlie Slick & Johnny Ill, The Eugene Strobe, Leaving Rouge, Gregory Stovetop, Coke Dick Motorcycle Awesome.
  • Local legend Vladimir recorded "Ypsilanti" in 1988.
  • A portrait of jazz guitarist Randy Napoleon, painted by his grandmother, Fay Kleinman, is part of the permanent art collection of the Ypsilanti District Library. Randy performed his first public gig as leader at the age of twelve under at tent at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival, an event sponsored by WEMU radio.

[edit] Sites of interest

Starkweather Chapel in Highland Cemetery
Starkweather Chapel in Highland Cemetery

Ypsilanti has the third largest historic district in the state of Michigan, behind only the much larger cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids. The historic district includes both downtown Ypsilanti, along Michigan Avenue, and the Depot Town area adjacent to Frog Island Park and Riverside Park, which features many specialty shops, bars and grills, and a farmers' market.

Other sites of interest include:

  • Automotive Heritage Museum
  • First United Methodist Church
  • Highland Cemetery
  • Michigan Firehouse Museum
  • Pease Auditorium (on the campus of Eastern Michigan University)
  • Starkweather Hall, built in 1896 as a chapel (currently housing EMU Graduate School)
  • Yankee Air Museum
  • Ypsilanti Historical Museum (housed in a Victorian-style mansion built in 1860)
  • Ypsilanti Water Tower (built in 1890)
  • Willow Run Airport - located in neighboring Wayne County, but home to Ypsilanti's weather station

[edit] Local Media

Although Ypsilanti is served by daily newspapers from Ann Arbor (the Ypsilanti Press, formerly run in Ypsilanti) and Detroit, the city has its own weekly newspaper, the Ypsilanti Courier, which is published every Thursday.

Local radio stations located in the area include:

  • WEMU (89.1 FM), which broadcasts jazz and blues music and NPR news from Eastern Michigan University
  • WQBR-AM (610 AM carrier-current and University Cable Channel 10), EMU's student-run radio station
  • WDEO (990 AM), a Catholic religious radio station targeting the Detroit area
  • WSDS (1480 AM), licensed to nearby Salem and a former longtime country-music station, now broadcasts Spanish-language popular music as "La Explosiva" and has studios in Ypsilanti.

Ypsilanti is also served by radio and TV stations from Ann Arbor and Detroit. Broadcasts from the Lansing and Toledo areas also reach parts of the area.

[edit] Nicknames

Ypsilanti is often shortened to "Ypsi" in spoken conversation.

Because a large number of residents have migrated from Appalachia, certain neighborhoods (particularly on the east side, near the Willow Run auto plant), are disparagingly called "Ypsitucky."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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