This exhibit shows the German influence on the city's growth and identity, an influence second only to that of the University in the last half of the nineteenth century. From this vantage point there are still signs of the German presence, like Schwaben Hall and the Old West Side.

Photos Courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library

WALL DISPLAY 1: The Staeblers and the Germania/American
WALL DISPLAY 2: Germans on Ashley Street
WALL DISPLAY 3: From Horses to Cars: Early Autos, Service, and Parts
WALL DISPLAY 4: Three Generations of Metzgers on Washington Street

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Residents living on the west side in the 1870s drove their buggies or walked across the bridge over Allen Creek, climbing the Liberty Street hill to join the celebration of German American Day. In the distance you can see the rooftops of their homes built after 1845 in what is now the Old West Side. Close by, saw mills, grist mills, tanneries, foundries, and breweries, mainly German-owned, took advantage of the creek as a source of power and water.

From Ann Arbor's founding in 1824 until today, the presence of the waterway has defined the shape of the center of town. The creek provided the site for the city's earliest known bathhouse, an octagonal Victorian structure built over the creek at Liberty and First streets. Early skating parks and swimming areas also were located along the creek. In 1878 the first passengers on James Ashley's new Toledo & Ann Arbor Railroad arrived in town. The railroad followed the valley and spurred increased industrial development along the creek.

Detroit Edison sold electric home appliances from 1915 to 1983 in its showroom across the street. The earliest Ann Arbor homes were lit by fireplace flames and lard lamps. Oil, along with gas manufactured after 1858 from the burning of coal, lit most homes and streets until the arrival of electricity. Electric power came to Ann Arbor in 1884 when the Ann Arbor Van Depoele Light and Power Co. built a generating plant powered by coal-fired steam on Washington Street just west of the Ann Arbor Railroad. It provided safer, cleaner, and brighter power for 36 stores and residences and added 33 electric streetlights to the town's array of gas lampposts. For the next two decades, some areas continued to be lit by gas and many homes were equipped with both electric and gas lights in a combination fixture.

This exhibit shows how topography shapes the pattern of urban growth. Allen Creek was a major feature of the town until it was buried in pipe beneath the ground. The Ann Arbor Railroad follows the creek valley.

Photos Courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library

WALL DISPLAY 1: Industry and Recreation on Allen Creek
WALL DISPLAY 2: The Ann Arbor Railroad

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In 1858 Main Street jeweler Joseph C. Watts built his large brick home on the northeast corner of Liberty and Division within easy walking distance of his Main Street shop. Multiple fireplaces, a roof-top widow's walk, and ornate trim in the fashionable Italianate style proclaimed his success. The earliest settlers and most prominent citizens built their houses near the center of town. At first, crude, dirt floored log cabins were clustered near Huron and Main. Single family frame, brick, and stucco dwellings rapidly spread east to what after 1837 became the University of Michigan campus.

On the opposite corner to your right stands druggist Emanuel Mann’s 1850 house of brick covered with stucco scored to resemble stone.This style was so popular that Ann Arbor was referred to as “the little stucco village.” In 1829 Mann’s parents had been the first German family to settle in Ann Arbor.

Founded in 1860, Mack & Company grew to be Ann Arbor’s largest department store. In 1870 it advertised dress goods, household goods, flannels, shawls and cloakings, “selling everything cheap.” By 1900 it had become Main Street’s premier shopping destination, wooing customers with promises of first class service. In the 1920s shoppers could visit Mack’s post office, bank, beauty shop, and pharmacy, enjoy an occasional fashion show or sing along while a pianist played sheet music for sale.Christmas at Mack’s meant elaborate store window displays, a huge decorated tree on a revolving musical stand and the largest toy selection in town. Overwhelmed by the 1930s Depression, Mack closed with its final sale in 1939.

SITE 1. LIBERTY and DIVISION: in Liberty Plaza
Residential life of early settlers and neighborhoods where prominent families lived.

• Residential life in mid-19th-century Ann Arbor

WALL DISPLAYS:

• At Home in the 19th Century
• The 19th Century Neighborhood

SITE 2. MAIN and LIBERTY: southeast corner
The shopping experience through time: department stores, changing products, theaters.

• The Main Street Shopping Experience

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Main Street Shopping Expands
• Downtown Movie Theaters
• Changing Retail Patterns

SITE 3. MAIN and WILLIAM: northwest corner
Transportation and Lighting, streetcars, the interurban, Detroit Edison, parades.

• Power and Transportation

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Ann Arbor Streetcars
• Everyone Loves a Parade

SITE 4. LIBERTY and ASHLEY: northeast corner
Influence of topography, including Allen Creek, on patterns of urban growth and change.

• Allen Creek Valley Shapes the Town

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Industry and Recreation on Allen Creek
• The Ann Arbor Railroad

SITE 5. WASHINGTON and ASHLEY: southeast corner
German immigrants' influence on city growth and identity.

• Germans in Ann Arbor

WALL DISPLAYS:

• The Staeblers and the Germania/American Hotel
• Germans on Ashley Street
• From Horses to Cars: Early Autos, Service, and Parts
• Three Generations of Metzgers on Washington Street

SITE 6. MAIN and WASHINGTON: southeast corner
Commerce and banking in the evolution of Main Street and the town.

• Business and Banking

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Eating and Drinking in Ann Arbor
• Dry Goods
• Hardware

SITE 7. MAIN and HURON:
Town life and the Courthouse square

FRAMES:
MAIN and HURON: southwest corner
• A Landmark of Civic Pride on Courthouse square
MAIN and HURON: northeast corner
• Hospitality on Courthouse Square
• Pedestal Map
MAIN and HURON: northeast corner
• Architecture and Business on Courthouse Square
MAIN and ANN: southwest corner
• Centers for Communications on Courthouse Square

WALL DISPLAYS:
On Main and Huron, SE corner
• The Last Deposit
On South wall of Courthouse
• Building New Around Old: The Construction of the Present Courthouse
On West wall of Courthouse
• Politics and Processions on Courthouse Square
• Courthouse Square: A Center of Civic Life
• Departing Heroes and the Home Front
On North wall of Courthouse
• Main Street in the 1890s
• Shopping on East Huron Street
• The Streets Around Courthouse Square
• Commerce on the Ann Street Block
• A Former Bank and Estate on Ann Street
• A Meeting Place for Ann Arbors Black Community
• The Changing face of North Forth Avenue
• A Corner Landmark on Huron and North Fourth

ARTIFACTS:
On the planter on SW corner of Main and Huron
• Cornerstone
• Civil War Recruitment
• Death of President Lincoln

SITE 8. FIFTH AVENUE and HURON: northeast corner
City services, city hall, fire and police.

• The Growth of City Services

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Essential City Services
• New City Government, New Issues, and a New City Hall

SITE 9a. CATHERINE and NORTH FOURTH AVENUE: southeast corner
A supply, manufacturing, and service area between river, railroad, and town.

• A Supply side of Town

SITE 9b. FIFTH AVENUE at DETROIT: west side

• Lumber and Agriculture

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Ann Arbor’s African American Community
• A Changing Neighborhood
• Between Downtown and the Railroad
• Industry on Detroit Street

SITE 10a. BROADWAY BRIDGE at entrance to Broadway Park
Lower town, transportation, town and gown.

• The Center of Power and Transportation

SITE 10b. BROADWAY at SWIFT: east side at north end of bridge
Lower town, transportation, town and gown.

• Lower Town

PORCELAIN EXHIBIT PANELS:

• The Underground Railroad
• The Clairvoyant Physician
• The Agricultural Works and Lower Town
• From Industry to Parks
• Lower Town's Flour Mills
• Early Power and Transportation
• The Finest on the Line
• Along the Michigan Central Railroad Tracks

SITE 11. STATE and HURON: northwest corner
Churches and schools in town life.

• Schools and Churches

WALL DISPLAYS:

• Ann Arbor High School
• Carnegie Library
• Harris Hall

SITE 12. STATE and LIBERTY: east side
Entertainment and cultural change

• Town and Gown: Entertainment and Changing Culture

WALL DISPLAYS:

• The James Foster House of Art
• From Liveries to Taxis
• Uptown Theaters

SITE 13a. STATE and NORTH UNIVERSITY: southeast corner
Impact of the University of Michigan upon local culture and commercial and residential growth.

• A Second Shopping District

SITE 13b. NORTH UNIVERSITY and STATE: east of southeast corner

• The University Expands

SITE 14a,14b and 14c. STATE STREET: in front of Michigan Union
Development of the University as an educational and physical presence

• The Making of a Great University
• University of Michigan Campus, 1907
• The Michigan Union and the Peace Corps

SITE 15. SOUTH UNIVERSITY and EAST UNIVERSITY: in plaza on north side
Academic, Social and Political side of the Relationship between university and city.

• Social and Political Change on South University

WALL DISPLAYS:

• The Corners of South University and East University Avenues
• Like a Small Village
• Houses to High Rises on South University Avenue
• South University and Forest Avenues

SITE 16. SOUTH UNIVERSITY and WASHTENAW: northwest corner
Changing patterns of residential life:fraternities, sororities, cooperatives, apartments.

• Changing Patterns of Residential Life

Our deepest appreciation to the sponsors, donors, volunteers and supporters who have made possible the installation of the Courthouse Square Exhibit.

LANDMARK GIFTS

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority
DTE Energy Distribution
Pfizer Global Research & Development, Ann Arbor Laboratory

LEADERSHIP GIFTS

James Kennedy Angell & Sarah Caswell Angell Parsons
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation
Tom & Louis Borders
Carl and Isabelle Brauer
Tom Garthwaite & Marvin Carlson
First Martin Corporation
David B & Sally P Kennedy
MAV Development Company
Michigan Humanities Council
Morningside Equities Group
The Mosaic Foundation (of Rita & Peter Heydon)
National Endowment for the Humanities
O'Neal Construction Company
Lois & John Stegeman
TCF Bank

MAJOR DONORS

The Historic Street Exhibits project has become a success only because of the thousands of hours put in by many volunteers. Each person has played an important role.

Below are listed the names of the project's volunteers. These individuals come from many segments of Ann Arbor's population, and the success of the project is largely due to the positive support received from the many who have contributed in a variety of ways.

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Ray Detter

DESIGN TEAM

Carl Luckenbach, Project Architect
Don Hammond, Graphics Designer
Norman Tyler, Chair of Design Charrette

ADVISORY BOARD

The Street Exhibit Project was designed at a design "charrette" held in 1991. The charrette included 21 design professionals from the Ann Arbor area, including architects, planners, landscape architects and graphic designers, who volunteered for the all-day design exercise. The goal was to develop a proposal for the street exhibits by the end of the day.

The volunteer professionals offered a variety of ideas--ideas which included street banners, bronze castings, wall markers, kiosks, and transparent displays. By the end of the day, one idea had taken root with the group--the idea of a "transparent blade" set up on the sidewalk in a way that viewers could look through the transparent glass exhibit and see images of historic structures superimposed over the streetscape.

The project design had some initial constraints, which were largely satisfied in the final project. The initial constraints were as follows: