We've Been Down This Road Before
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Official publication of the Ypsilanti Histoical Society, featuring articles and reminisences of the people and places in the Ypsilanti area SPRING 2013 In This Issue... Y-Town 6 Cruisin’ Ypsilanti 7 By Fred Thomas MCRR find in the Archives 9 How did it get there? 11 B-24 bomber monument By Fred Thomas Model T Ford ad 12 Community Choir presents “Liberator” concert 13 By Val Kabat Sanscrainte III 14-15 By Michael E. Van Wasshnova Donald H. Porter 16 By Peg Porter Historic surnames 18 Hebe Fountain found 19 By Tom Dodd We’ve been Are you smarter than an 8th grader? 21 down this Horse thieves 23 By James Mann The Gilbert family 25 road before By Janice Anscheutz The skeletons of Bell Street By James Mann 29 There’s always been heavy traffic Farm gate controversy 31 on downtown’s Michigan Avenue By James Mann By Tom Dodd Michigan Avenue Where do you think you are? 32 US-12 Take another look at downtown Ypsilanti’s Michi- gan Avenue. Take away the cars and trucks; take away US -112 the concrete and asphalt. Let’s even take away what’s Society Briefs: Congress Street left of the Interurban tracks and the paving bricks and From the President’s Desk 2 The Chicago Road get right down to the dirt. Now we can see footprints Society Board Members 2 Military Highway on the bare earth. The traffic where this thoroughfare GLEANINGS Sponsors 3 Sauk Trail crosses the Huron River has been coming through for Museum Board Report 10 Mastodon Highway centuries. Welcome to our Real Main Street. Membership Application 30 [continued on page 3] www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org • SPRING 2013 By Alvin E. Rudisill Ypsilanti Historical Society From the President’s Desk Our major maintenance efforts over the past several weeks have been dedicated to: 1) Board of Trustees: the repair and painting of the stairways leading to the second floor and the basement and Maria Davis, Virginia Davis-Brown, the replacement of the kickpads; 2) the resurfacing of the floor in the front hallway and Kathryn Howard, Gerald Jennings, the painting of all the front hallway trim; and 3) the purchase and installation of runners in Jackson Livisay, Karen Nickels, the front hall. Our next efforts will be to repair and/or replace the front and back entrance Maxe Obermeyer, John Pappas, doors. Our sincere thanks to all those involved in these efforts, and to the volunteers who Alvin Rudisill, Diane Schick, moved artifacts around so the repairs could be completed. Robert Southgate Our February membership meeting program was presented by Bill Nickels on “The Stark- weather Farm.” Bill has become quite an expert on the farm and the next issue of the Museum Advisory Board: GLEANINGS will contain an article about the farm. Virginia Davis-Brown, Kathleen Campbell, Marjorie Fahndrich, There have been some changes in the EMU Interns that serve in both the Museum and Kathryn Howard, Jackson Livisay, the Archives. First, Lauren Carpenter is now Lauren Thomson due to a recent marriage. Fofie Pappas, Robert Southgate, Congratulations Lauren! Second, Deirdre Fortino graduated with a Master’s Degree in Nancy Wheeler, Daneen Zureich Historic Preservation and has been replaced by Melanie Parker. Congratulations Deirdre and welcome Melanie. Archives Advisory Board: We are continuing our efforts to raise funds to pay off the balance owed the City of Yp- Kim Clarke, Maria Davis, John Pappas, silanti for the purchase of the property at 220 North Huron Street. We are still approxi- Gerry Pety-ex officio, Hank Prebys, mately $20,000 short of our $125,000 goal and our Endowment Fund Advisory Board will George Ridenour, Diane Schick, be planning and implementing fundraising programs over the next few months to close Jane Schmiedeke, Lisa Walters, out this effort. Our thanks to all those who have made significant contributions in support Bette Warren of the YHS Museum and Archives over the past few years. Endowment Fund If you are not currently on our email listserv, please call the Museum at 734-482-4990 Advisory Board: and have your name added. We are using the listserv only for program notifications. Your email address will not be shared with others. Also, please check the Event Schedule on our Kenneth Butman, Nat Edmunds, web site for upcoming special programs and displays. Lynda Hummel, Paul Kuwik, Don Loppnow Karen Nickels, We are looking for volunteers as docents for the Museum or research assistants for the Maxe Obermeyer, Steve Pierce, Archives. Both the Museum and Archives are open from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Alvin Rudisill Sunday. If you are available during that time and are interested in helping us preserve the historical information and artifacts of the area, or in educating the general public about our Ypsilanti Historical Society history, please give me a call at 734-476-6658. 220 North Huron Street Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 Museum: 734.482.4990 Archives: 734.217.8236 Up-coming Coming Events www.ypsilantihistoricasociety.org at the Ypsilanti Historical Society GLEANINGS Staff Editor Al Rudisill 31 March MUSEUM Assistant Editor Peg Porter Museum and Archives Design & Layout Tom Dodd Closed for Easter Sunday Advertising Director Lauren Thomson Finance Director Karen Nickels Distribution Lauren Thomson 18 April- 19 May Art Exhibit If you have suggestions for articles or if you have questions, contact Al Rudisill 19 May at 734.476.6658 or [email protected]. Quarterly Membership Meeting – 2 p.m. Ypsilanti GLEANINGS is published 4 times a year by the Ypsilanti Historical Society, 1 June 220 N. Huron Street, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Annual Yard Sale 2 Ypsilanti GLEANINGS • SPRING 2013 Michigan/mastodon Avenue connected Rock Island on the Mississippi [continued from the front page] Major Indian River to the Illinois River near modern tribes and Peru, with the trail along the north bank of trails - 1760 that river to Joliet, and on to Valparaiso, In- diana. It then ran northeasterly to LaPorte and into southern Michigan through Niles, Three Rivers, and Ypsilanti, ending at the Detroit River. The trail followed a winding Indian trails path along the ridges of dune and moraines of importance to Michigan that marked the earlier glacial period Lake Michigan shorelines. European settlers im- proved the trail into a wagon road and later into modern highways. This road is a path; Some early Indian trails There are even older trails a very old path are still in place Many will settle for tracing the origin of The earliest inhabitants of this Michigan • Sauk Trail, followed roughly the line these roadways back to the Native Ameri- peninsula traveled mostly by water and, of present US 12 from Detroit through Yp- cans but some of these ancient paths were for most Native Americans, by birch-bark silanti and to Lake Michigan through the here even before that. Sections of the trail canoe, along lakes and rivers. Few Indi- “smile” of prairie that extended across the followed the southern boundary between ans inhabited the upland, drier portions of bottom of the lower peninsula [continued overleaf] land––areas mostly seen while “just pass- • Saginaw Trail from Toledo through ing through.” Light Indian canoes were Saginaw to Mackinac, part of which forms easily guided through the rivers that kept today’s Dixie Highway a regular flow before deforestation took • Grand River Trail between Detroit and place. These same routes and their portages Grand Rapids, now followed by the trunk were later used by the first European trav- line US 16 elers. • Sault and Green Bay Trail east/west across the upper peninsula, now by US 2 Once on land, however, paths were created and State Rte. 35 Mastodon skeletons have been found near Tex- for foot travel. As those paths developed, tile and Carpenter Roads and in the gravel pits at least a few were the beginnings of high- The Sauk Trail ran through Illinois, Indiana along Michigan Avenue west of Saline (north of ways like downtown’s Michigan Avenue. and Michigan. From west to east, the trail Harry’s Furniture) Ypsilanti Historical Society ONLINE 220 North Huron Street - Ypsilanti, MI 48197 http://ypsilantihistoricasociety.org/ For information about upcoming Home GLEANINGS Administrative Society events, visit us online at: Sponsors Archives Welcome! www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org Collections The Anschuetz Family Contact Info The Ypsilanti Historical Museum is a museum of local history which is Jim Curran Donations presented as an 1860 home. The Museum and Fletcher-White Archives Fred & Maria Davis Event Schedule are organized and operated by the Ypsilanti Historical Society. We are all Virginia Davis-Brown Membershp volunteers and our membership is open to everyone, including non-city Earnest & Carolyn Griffin Publications residents. Kathryn J. Howard Search Engines A Matter of Trust Bob & Marcia McCrary Vets Project On-Line Bookstore: Click your mouse on the book at the right to visit Karen & Bill Nickels Visiting the YHS on-line bookstore that includes more than twenty books on the Max & Terry Obermeyer Volunteer history of the people, places, and things in and around Ypsilanti. You can John & Fofie Pappas Web Sites pay for your order using your credit card and the secure “Google Check- Al & Jan Rudisill Museum: out” system. Pick out a book for family members or friends and we will Diane Schick ship it to any address within the continental United States. Bob & Shirley Southgate 734-484-0080 Archives: Technical support for this site provided by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work’s Rita Sprague 734-217-8236 SBC Ameritech WebConnect Program. Domain and Web Hosting Ser- Nancy Wheeler click for a map vices provided by Huron Valley Community Network. Daneen Zureich 3 www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org • SPRING 2013 Michigan/mastodon Avenue [continued from page 3] U of M’s old fossil Paths through tall grass prairies connected the main Indian trails the dense forest and the mixed grassland Sections of the Sauk Trail still exist in some regions.