What to See in Ypsilanti - Top Sights and Attractions

Hall in Ypsilanti, Michigan. McKenny Hall, previously called McKenny Union and Charles McKenny Union, was the first student union on the campus of a teachers' college when it opened in 1931. At various times the building has included bookstores, a bowling alley, a bank, and a food court, as well as a ballroom and other social and meeting spaces. Today the building is known as McKenny Hall and is home to human resources and academic advising and career services. After The EMU Student Center opened, McKenny closed in 2006 for renovations to preserve the building's age. Since then the university uses the historic building as office space for various departments. The building faces Cross Street and the Ypsilanti Water Tower.^[5]

Museum in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Ypsilanti Historical Society, founded in 1961, operates the Ypsilanti Historical Museum and Rudisill-Fletcher-White Archives in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The museum and archives are located at 220 N Huron St. in an Italianate mansion built in 1860 by Asa Dow. The house came into possession of the Ypsilanti Historical Society in 1970 after being owned by the city since 1966. In 2007 the Fletcher-White Archives moved from the property's carriage house into the basement of the main house.

The house is decorated like a house would be in 1860 Ypsilanti. It includes a dining room, bedroom, parlor with windows between the house walls, and a solarium with a slatted floor for watering plants and a roof vent to adjust the plants' temperature. There is also an Ypsilanti Room, featuring a permanent exhibit on the city’s history, dating all the way back to the Paleo Indian era.

The Rudisill-Fletcher-White Archives includes collections on Eastern Michigan University, Willow Run, and Ypsilanti Public Schools. Among the holdings are family Bibles, maps, city and county directories, postcards, yearbooks, news clippings, tax assessment rolls, and civil and criminal dockets. Through collaboration with the University of Michigan's Digital Library Production Service, the Ypsilanti Historical Society Photo Archives has made hundreds of images available online.

The Ypsilanti Historical Museum is a member of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. It hosts an annual Quilt Show.

The society's quarterly publication, Ypsilanti Gleanings, has been published since 1973. It was awarded the 2009 State History Award for "Communications: Newsletters and Websites" by the Historical Society of Michigan. The publication is available digitally on the website of the Ypsilanti Historical Society.^[6]

Depot Town is a commercial area, with some residences above storefronts, in Ypsilanti, Michigan's historic district. Depot Town proper consists of East Cross Street from the Huron River to North River Street, and a small area on the 300-block of North River Street. However, several blocks in the surrounding area are also commonly referred to as part of Depot Town. These areas include Riverside Park, Frog Island Park, and River Street extending north and south for several blocks. First established in the late 1830s, most of the buildings standing today were constructed between 1850 and 1880. Over the years, Depot Town has included hotels, an Underground Railroad station, an American Civil War barracks, and a building that has housed a bar and restaurant continuously for more than 150 years, switching to soft drinks during Prohibition. Today the area is dominated by restaurants and stores. Depot Town also hosts several large summer festivals each year, as well as weekly bike nights and cruise nights.^[10]

University library in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Bruce T. Halle Library, often simply referred to as Halle Library, is the sole library on the Eastern Michigan University campus. It includes computer labs, study spaces, the Holman Learning Center, a distance-learning classroom, the Faculty Development Center, the IT Help Desk, a multi-media area, a theater, an auditorium, the University archives, the carillon tower, and a Cafe. It houses one of the largest collections of children's literature in the United States. The building has full wireless connectivity, as well as Automated Retrieval Collection system, capable of housing 1 million items. While the most-used books are still on shelves, the majority of the school's books are stored within this system, which runs several stories underneath the library itself. The library is named for EMU graduate Bruce Halle, founder of Discount Tire and major benefactor.^[11]