Ypsilanti is located where an old Indian trail crossed the Huron River and long before the coming of the white man, was the camping and burial ground for several native American tribes.
In 1809 three French explorers built a log structure on the west bank of an Indian trading post and was one of the earliest structures in the vast, sparsely populated Michigan territory whose citizens, including forts, numbered just 4,762.
Gabriel Godfrey, proprietor of the trading post, was followed in 1823 by Benjamin Woodruff who, along with several companions, established a small settlement on the river a mile south of the post and named it Woodruff's Grove, the first settlement in Washtenaw County.
In 1824, Father Gabriel Richard, Representative in Congress for the Michigan Territory, urged the building of a federal highway from Detroit to Chicago, to be known as the Chicago Road. The surveying crew, following the Sauk Indian Trail, put the crossing of the Huron River nearly a mile north of Woodruff's Grove.
In 1825, three prominent settlers, Judge Augustus Woodward, John Stewart and William Harwood, combined portions of their own land to form the original plat for a new settlement at the crossing. This new settlement was named for the Greek Patriot General Demetrius Ypsilanti.
In the struggle of the Greek people against Turkish tyranny appeared an outstanding heroic figure, Demetrius Ypsilanti. With three hundred men he held the Citadel of Argos for three days against an army of thirty thousand. Having exhausted his provisions, he escaped one night beyond the enemy lines with his entire command, and having lost not a single man. He was admired by Americans for his part in a struggle for freedom so like their own.
When a fire destroyed the school at Woodruff's Grove, that small settlement was abandoned in favor of Ypsilanti.
Travel from Detroit by stagecoach became possible in 1830 and by 1832 three stage lines served Ypsilanti. In 1835 the military road to Chicago was officially opened, with new towns springing up along its length. Three years later the railroad from Detroit reached Ypsilanti. The first wood frame depot was built in 1838 and two decades later a large brick masonry station was constructed.
Adjacent to the depot, a small commercial district arose east of the river known (then and now) as Depot Town. Most of the structures still standing in Depot Town today were built within three decades following the mid-19th century.
A second business district developed shortly after Depot Town on the west side of the river along the Chicago Road (later called Congress Street and now Michigan Avenue).
Early on the community gained recognition for its educational institutions. The Ypsilanti Seminary was established in 1845 and in 1849 a teacher training school was established known as the Michigan Normal School, now Eastern Michigan University. Cleary College was founded in 1883.
Over the years Ypsilanti grew and flourished. The early development of the community was influenced and enhanced by the presence of the river and its abundant water power. As the years progressed the river industries of the mid to late 19th century yielded to manufacturing and the mills gave way to auto related commerce, which became a major economic force in the community.
In 1941 Ford Motor Company built a plant in Willow Run. That plant was quickly converted to wartime production when the U.S. entered World War II. The famous B-24 bombers rolled off the Willow Run Assembly line, one every 55 minutes.
The rich array of historic architecture was approved as an Historic District and with growing pride, Ypsilanti works to protect and enjoy its heritage.
