Ypsilanti Historic District

Ypsilanti is one of the oldest cities in Michigan, tracing its beginnings to 1823 when settlement began at the point where the trail from Detroit to Chicago crossed the Huron River. It was named after Demetrius Ypsilanti, hero of the Greek War of Independence, and even today many of the surviving buildings are adapted from classic Greek prototypes. Home of the Michigan State Normal College, claimed to be the first such institution west of the Appalachians, in the late nineteenth century Ypsilanti supported a number of paper mills. During WW II the town was known for its massive Willow Run bomber plant. Like many of the communities surrounding Detroit, Ypsilanti has experienced enormous growth in the 1950s and 60s. Yet the center of the town still displays its well-preserved nineteenth century heritage. A historic site survey, in process for two years, has been completed and plans are being made for the establishment of a historic district under local ordinance. Placement of the proposed district on the National Register is viewed as a necessary requirement for the success of this effort.

The Ypsilanti historic district is approximately a thirty block area centered around the bridge which carries the main street of the town over the Huron River. Nearly two hundred buildings of significance comprise the district, their styles running from Greek Revival to Queen Anne. There are two centers to the area, North Huron Street and the area known locally as 'Depot Town.' Huron Street is notable for its large number of brick Italianate and Second Empire buildings, including the notable Ypsilanti City Hall and the adjacent historical museum. Depot Town is a secondary business district that developed around the railway station. It features a number of late nineteenth century brick business blocks two and three stories tall. Overall the district may be described as the core of Ypsilanti, portraying a cross section of nineteenth century American architecture.

The proposed northeast extension of the Ypsilanti National Register district began to develop in the mid-nineteenth century as a residential adjunct to Depot Town. Its historical development parallels that of the existing Ypsilanti National Register district and city as a whole. This northeast extension area reflects the district's and city's settlement period in that it contains the home of at least one early settler family; its commercial history in that it contains the homes of several merchants and businessmen important in the historical development of Depot Town and the city as a whole; and its architectural history in that the area's nineteenth- and early twentieth-century housing stock is characteristic of the city's as a whole and of the east-side area presently within the district. In addition, the area contains several homes directly associated with Ypsilanti-born businessmen Shelley B. Hutchinson and Charles VanDusen, Jr. who reached a more than local level of success and achievement in the commercial field. The Joseph Peck family, which took up the land to the north of East Forest Street between North River and North Prospect Streets in 1823 or 1824, were probably the first settlers in the area now being proposed as the northeast addition to the district. The home built c. 1838 by the Pecks to replace their original log house still stands at 401 East Forest. Peck family members continued to own the property until the late 1950s. The development of what is now called Depot Town about the railroad depot near the East Cross/North River Streets intersection which opened in 1838 led to the platting of the nearby streets in the following years. Mark Norris platted the north side of East Cross Street and both sides of Maple Street between North River and Prospect in 1838. In 1852 four owners, including Norris and Benjamin Follett, platted Oak Street and the south side of East Forest. Depot Town's early business leaders for the most part lived along North River Street, and Oak, Maple, and East Forest Streets, running uphill to the east through the woods, gradually acquired the for the most part modest homes of shopkeepers, small tradesmen, and others whose jobs were related to Depot Town in the 1840s and after. Several homes in the area have been identified as the residences of railroad employees. For example, John Evans, a crossing gate keeper, lived at 413 Maple in a house he had built about 1870, while Brazil M. Damon, freight agent, had the house at 305 Maple built c. 1884. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, several important Ypsilanti businessmen constructed homes in the area. O.E. Thompson, successor to the carriage-manufacturing and sales business which his father Benjamin had established in Depot Town before 1860, had the house at 116 Maple constructed in 1883. Mara M. Read (1854-1937), president of the Ypsilanti Savings Bank from 1922 to 1931, lived at 323 Maple in a house he had built in 1893. In addition, the area contains several homes directly associated with Ypsilanti-born businessmen Shelly B. Hutchinson and Charles VanDusen, Jr. who reached a more than local level of success and achievement in the commercial field. Hutchinson (1864-1901), the inventor of the trading stamp concept and co-founder in 1896 with Thomas and William Sperry of S & H Green Stamps, was born in a house at 590 North River. With his trading stamp wealth, he had a new mansion built in 1899-1903 nearly opposite the old house at 600 North River. Charles VanDusen, Jr., vice president and by about 1930 president of the S.S. Kresge department store chain, grew up in a house at 329 Maple. In the 1917 Van Dusen had the old family home moved to its present location at 314 East Forest and had a new house built on the old site for this mother Hannah and maiden sister Mary. The historic housing stock of the proposed northeast addition complements that of the district and city as a whole in that it contains similar house types and styles, such as the modest Greek Revival upright-and-wing houses on East Forest and Oak in the northeast addition that are similar to those on North River; the traditional front-gable and cubical, hip-roof Greek Revival or Italianate houses along Oak that are similar to many houses in all parts of the existing district; and the various upright-and-wing and L-shaped types of the later nineteenth century that are similar to other houses in the existing district and other proposed amendment areas. But the northeast addition does contain several houses of great importance in the context of Ypsilanti’s historic architecture and one which is significant within the statewide context of architecture. The 1874 Frederick John Swaine House at 101 East Forest is an L-shaped, brick structure of Italianate design, but with bargeboarding at the gable. The Maro M. Read House (1893) at 323 Maple is one of small number of thus far identified Ypsilanti houses designed by a local architect whose name is variously given as Valkenburg or Van Falkenburg. This little known architect is thought to have designed some of the best of Ypsilanti’s very high quality Queen Anne homes. The Maro House is the most fully developed Queen Anne residence on Ypsilanti’s East Side. The house at 329 Maple which Charles Van Duzen had built for his mother and sister is an unusual low-lying, hip-roof English cottage-style dwelling with stucco walls. In its proportions it has much of the effect of a modern ranch house. There is nothing else like it in Ypsilanti. The most important historic house from an architectural standpoint in the northeast addition area, the East Side, and possible all of Ypsilanti is the Hutchinson Mansion at 600 North River, now carefully preserved on its block large grounds by the High/Scope Foundation. Built over the 1899-1903 period (the architect has not yet been identified), the mammoth, picturesque, structure with rock-face stone and wood shingle walls and half-timbered gables is perhaps the largest Elizabethan house of its date in Michigan.

The proposed northeast addition to the Ypsilanti National Register district adjoins the existing district on the south and southwest and is bounded on the west by North River Street, on the north by East Forest Street, and on the east by Prospect Street and the first north-south alley west of it. Roughly rectangular in form, the area contains 83 buildings -- of which 66 contribute to the district's historic character-- principally located along parallel, east-west streets between North River and Prospect Streets. The ground rises steeply east of North River Street for about one block, then rises more gently, up to a low hilltop west of Prospect, and flattens near Prospect. The proposed addition is an area of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century, single-family homes, many of them very modest, but with a scattering of large and impressive houses. Located on ample lots along narrow, tree-shaded streets, the houses are mainly frame structures. The brick Swaine House at 101 East Forest and the partly stone Hutchinson Mansion at 600 North River are the important exceptions. The housing stock consists primarily of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne-style; vernacular front-gable, side-gable, and L-shaped late nineteenth century; bungalow-type; and early twentieth-century period revival homes. Concentrations of early Greek Revival and Italianate houses are found in the 200 block of Oak and the 300 block of Maple, while the most impressive Queen Anne homes are located along Maple Street. Early twentieth-century houses are found fairly evenly distributed throughout the area. By far the most visible structure in the area is the thirty-room, Elizabethan-style Hutchinson Mansion occupying a three-acre park-like setting overlooking North River Street in the 600 block. The historic housing stock here suffers from problems typical of the district as a whole, such as re-siding, with the covering over or removal of original trim, and the removal or rebuilding of porches. Because of the relatively small size of most houses, however, few houses have had their living spaces divided up for apartment use and a high proportion remain owner-occupied. Non-contributing buildings have a minor visual impact. The principal non-contributing building is a modern brick church at 218 East Forest.