Washtenaw County Consortium, featuring Historical Attractions in the Washtenaw Area:

Organization	Address	City	ST	Zip	Phone Number	Website
African American Cultural & Historical Museum	3261 Lohr Road	Ann Arbor	MI	48108	734-996-0603	www.anotherannarbor.org
Bentley Historical Library	1150 Beal	Ann Arbor	MI	48109	734-764-3482	www.bentley.umich.edu
Chelsea Area Historical Society/Depot Museum	125 Jackson Road	Chelsea	MI	48118	734-475-8971
Clements Library, University of Michigan	909 South University	Ann Arbor	MI	48109-1190	734-764-2347	www.clements.umich.edu
Cobblestone Farm, City of Ann Arbor	2781 Packard Road	Ann Arbor	MI	48108	734-994-2928	www.cobblestonefarm.org
Detroit Observatory, University of Michigan	1398 E. Ann	Ann Arbor	MI	48109-2051	734-764-3482	www.bentley .umich.edu
Dexter Area Museum	3443 Inverness	Dexter	MI	48130	734-426-2519	www.hvcn.org/info/dextermuseum
Earhart Manor, Concordia University	4090 Geddes Road	Ann Arbor	MI	48105	734-995-7331	www.cuaa.edu/~manorwalk
Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County	525 E. Woodland Drive	Saline	MI	48176	734-944-4789	www.hvcn.org/info/gswc
Huron Valley Railroad Historical Society	3487 Broad St	Dexter	MI	48130	734-426-5100	www.aamrc.org
Jarvis Stone School, Salem Historical Society	N. Territorial and Curtis Roads	Salem	MI	48175	248-349-3550
Kempf House Musueum	312 S. Division	Ann Arbor	MI	48104	734-994-4898	www.kempfhousemuseum.org
Manchester Area Historical Society/Schneider Blacksmith Shop	324 E. Main Street	Manchester	MI	48158	734-428-9233	www.hvcn.org/info/gswc/society/scomanchester
Michigan Firehouse Museum	110 W Cross St	Ypsilanti	MI	48197	734-547-0663	www.michiganfirehousemuseum.org
Milan Historical Society/Hack House Museum	775 County Street	Milan	MI	48160	734-439-7522	www.milanchamber.org
Miller Motors/Automotive Heritage Collection	100-110 East Cross St	Ypsilanti	MI	48198	734-482-5200	www.ypsilantiautoheritage.org
Parker Mill, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation	4650 Geddes Road	Ann Arbor	MI	48105	734-971-6337	www.ewashtenaw.org
Pittsfield Historical Society	797 W. Textile Rd.	Ann Arbor	MI	48108	734-971-2384	www.pittsfieldhistory.org
Rentschler Farm	1265 E. Michigan Avenue	Saline	MI	48176	734-994-0442  734-769-2219	www.salinehistory.org
Salem Area Historical Society	P.O. Box 75011	Salem	MI	48175	248-349-3550	www.sahshistory.org
Saline Area Historical Society/Saline Depot Museum	402 N. Ann Arbor Street	Saline	MI	48176	734-994-0442  734-769-2219	www.salinehistory.org
Sharon Mill, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation	5701 Sharon Hollow	Manchester	MI	48158	734-971-6337	www.ewashtenaw.org
Washtenaw Co. Historical Society/Museum on Main Street	500 N. Main Street	Ann Arbor	MI	48104	734-662-9092	www.washtenawhistory.org
Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation	2230 Platt Road, P.O. Box 8645	Ann Arbor	MI	48107	734-971-6337	www.ewashtenaw.org/government/ departments/parks_recreation
Weber-Blaess School	520 E. Woodland Drive	Saline	MI	48176	734-429-8020	www.salinehistory.org
Webster Township Historical Society	P.O. Box 253, 6225 Webster Church Road	Dexter	MI	48130	734-426-2777	www.hvcn.org/info/society/socwebster
Yankee Air Museum	Willow Run Airport P.O. Box 590	Belleville	MI	48112	734-483-4030	www.yankeeairmuseum.org
Ypsilanti Historical Society/Historical Museum and Archives	220 N. Huron	Ypsilanti	MI	48197	734-482-4990	www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org

Washtenaw County History

Washtenaw County was formally established January 1, 1827, several years after the first pioneering settlers arrived to an untouched region cut by several Native American foot paths and travelers. According to Chapman’s History of Washtenaw County (1881), the Legislative Council of Michigan Territory defined the boundaries of Washtenaw County in 1822. Washtenaw is a variant of Wash-ten-ong, a Chippewa name for Grand River. The Huron River valley was originally home to a large Native American population. In 1680, the French explorer La Salle passed eastward through this region canoeing from Portage Lake down the Huron to Lake Erie. French fur traders and Jesuit missionaries soon followed.

The land was diverse, ranging from flat lake bottom land in the southeast to rolling hills filled with small lakes to the northwest. Woodlands punctuated with small “oak openings” (once referred to as arbors) filled the space in between. Four years after Michigan became a Territory in 1805, Godfrey, Pepin and La Shambre established a trading post known as “Godfrey’s, on the Pottawatomie Trail” in what is now Ypsilanti. Many pioneers saw economic opportunity by harnessing river power for sawmills and gristmills. Major Benjamin Woodruff, who purchased 160 acres of land in 1823 in Ypsilanti Township, is commonly acknowledged to be Washtenaw’s first settler. A year later John Allen collaborated with Elisha Rumsey to plat the town of Ann Arbor (originally “Annarbour”), named for Allen’s wife, Ann, and the burr oak opening present on the site.

Early area transportation networks developed from the rivers and Native American Trails. In 1827, the Chicago Military Road was built along the Great Sauk Trail (now Michigan Avenue from Ypsilanti through Saline and to Clinton). Two years later, the Territorial Road to St. Joseph (now US-12 parallel to I-94) was built. The completion of the Michigan Central Railroad’s Detroit-Ann Arbor connection in 1839 symbolized the beginning of a new era of immigration, economic accessibility and growth for Washtenaw County.

Since its founding, the County has grown in population, accommodating settlers from New England, New York, and southern Canada; and immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and other parts of Europe. The County has ranked among the top counties in Michigan for agricultural production, and become known for its sheep and as the home of the University of Michigan. The University, founded in Detroit in 1817, moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. In Ypsilanti, the Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) was established in 1849. It is the oldest teachers’ institution west of the Allegheny Mountains.

The County established its county seat in the City of Ann Arbor, but it also has several other cities and villages, including Ypsilanti, Saline, Chelsea, Milan, Dexter, and Manchester. It is filled with interesting architecture, beautiful landscapes, and many stories. To learn more about its history, please check out the references and web links below:

Bibiolography of General Histories:

Beakes, Samuel W. Past and Present of Washtenaw County, Michigan. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1906.

Chapman, Charles. History of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Volumes I and II. Chicago, Illinois: Chas. C. Chapman & Co., 1881.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Washtenaw County. Author and Publisher not identified. 1891.

Maps:

Bechler, Gustavus R., “Map of Washtenaw County, Michigan from surveys by G. R. Bechler and E. Wenig.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Bechler, Wenig, and Co., 1856.

Bechler, Gustavus R., “Map of the counties of Washtenaw and Lenawee, Michigan from special surveys and official records by G. R. Bechler and E. Wenig.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Samuel Geil, publisher, 1864.

Comer, P. J. and D. A. Albert, H. A. Wells, B.L. Hart, J. B. Raab, D. L. Price, D. M. Kashian, R.A. Corner and D. W. Schuen. Michigan’s Presettlement Vegetation, as Interpreted from the General Land Office Surveys 1816-1856. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing, Michigan. Digital Map. 1995.

Hinsdale, W. B. “Washtenaw County, Michigan: Map showing old Indian Trails, prehistoric sites, mounds, burying grounds, etc.” Ann Arbor, Michigan: George Wahr, publisher, 1927. Copy at the Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Houghton, Douglass. “Map of Washtenaw County [1844?].” Printed Materials Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pettibone, S. Washtenaw County, Michigan Map, 1843. Printed Materials Collection, Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Rockford Map Publications, Inc. Plat Maps of Lima, Lodi, and Scio Townships, Washtenaw County, Michigan: Rockford, Illinois: Rockford Map Publications, Inc., 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981/82, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997.

Weinlander, Paul. Township Plats of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 1934.

Ypsilanti Historical Society. Combination Atlas and Map of Washtenaw County, Michigan. Reproduced by Unigraphic, Inc., Evansville, Indiana, 1981. Reprint of Illustrated Atlas, Chicago, Illinois: Everts and Stewart, 1874; and Standard Atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois: George A. Ogle and Co., 1895 and 1915.

Selected additional references:

Armstrong, William J. Papers concerning the Survey of Washtenaw County. Manuscript Collection. Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Cutcheon, B. M. “Log Cabin Times and Log Cabin People.” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, Vol. 29, 1898.

Davis, Rev. Lorenzo. “The Pioneer Ministers of Washtenaw County.” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections 28 (1898): 214-223.

Davis, Rev. Lorenzo. “Recollections of Early Ministers of Washtenaw County.” Michigan Pioneer and Historic Collections 9 (1886): 155-161.

Finney, Byron Alfred. History of Washtenaw County. Vol. III, Historic Michigan, George Newman Fuller, ed. Dayton, Ohio: National Historical Association, Inc., 1924.

Florer, W. W. Washtenaw, Westphalia, Frankenmuth, Detroit, 1848. Vol. 1, Early Michigan Settlements. Ann Arbor, Michigan: By the author, 1941.

Frost, Clarence. “The Early Railroads of Southern Michigan.” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections 38 (1911): 498-499.

Fuller, George N. “Introduction to Settlement of Southern Michigan.” Michigan Historical Collections 38 (1911): 539-579.

Hanel-Gerdenich, Ina. “The German Settlement of Western Washtenaw County, Michigan.” Final paper, History 505, Eastern Michigan University, April 1995.

Hanel-Gerdenich, Ina. Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan: Intensive-Level Historic Survey. Final Report to the Superior Land Conservancy. 1996.

Hanel-Gerdenich, Ina. Washtenaw County Thematic Survey. Final Report to the Washtenaw County Historic District Commission. 1997.

Hennings, Thomas P. Looking Back: The History of Northfield Township and the Whitmore Lake Area. Northfield Township: Northfield Township Historical Society, 1985.

Jenks, William L. "Michigan Immigration." Michigan History 28 (1944): 67-100.

Johnson, Hildegard B. "The Location of German Immigrants in the Middle West." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 41 (1951): 1-41.

Johnson, Hildegard. “New Land Assignment through the Land Ordinances.” Chapter 3. Order Upon the Land. (In Course Pack for GEO 330: Settlement Geography Class, Eastern Michigan University, Winter 1992).

Marsh, Nicholas A. Remembering Delhi Mills. By the author, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1984.

Marsh, Nicholas A. Scio Village: Ghost town with a Past. By the author, Mansfield, Ohio, 1995.

Rose, Gregory S. "South Central Michigan Yankees." Michigan History (March/April 1986): 29-39.

Schmid, Friederich. "The Schmid Letters, 1833-1879." Translated by Emerson E. Hutzel. St. Louis, Missouri, 1953. Manuscript Collection. Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Seymour, C. B. “Early Days in Old Washtenaw County.” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. Vol. 28, 1897-1898, 391-399.

Sheldon, Samuel R. The Michigan Central Railroad and Washtenaw County’s Changing Economic Geography from 1820 to 1850. M. S. Thesis, Eastern Michigan University, Department of Geography, 1967.

Sias, Margaret L. “Historical Overview as Related to the Changing Landscape of Lima [Township, Michigan] 1825-1981.” Mill Creek Research Council Survey Report, 1981.

Stephenson, O. W. Ann Arbor: The First Hundred Years. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, 1927.

Ten Brook, Andrew. "First German Settlement." In S. W. Beakes, Past and Present of Washtenaw County. Chicago, Illinois: S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1906.

Thaden, J. F. “Ethnic Settlements in Rural Michigan.” Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Quarterly Bulletin 29:2 (1946): 102-111. Accompanying map, 1945.

Trautmann, Frederic. "Glimpses of Michigan in 1855: The Travels of Johann Georg Kohl." Michigan History 67, no. 4 (July/August 1983): 33-39.

Additional Web Links:

HISTWEB: http://gisweb.ewashtenaw.org/website/histweb/viewer/viewer.htm

Ann Arbor History, with links to County references: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moaatxt;idno=BAC4701.0001.001

Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County, with links to references: http://www.hvcn.org/info/gswc/bibliography/bkwashtenaw.htm

Washtenaw County Historical Society: www.washtenawhistory.org