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SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : "The Finest on the Line"

Sponsored by Gandy Dancer Restaurant

Photos Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

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Panel Information Richard Nixon addressed the crowd, 1952 Michigan Central Railroad depot, 1886 Harvard-UM Game, 1914 Michigan Central Railroad, 1886

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : Early Power and Transportation

Sponsored by Peter and Sally Allen

Photos Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

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Panel Information Rebuilding the millrace metal trestle, 1894 Icehouses Plank Road, 1870s

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : Lower Town's Flour Mills

Sponsored by DTE Energy

Photos Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

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hydroelectric powerhouse, 1905 Argo consumed by fire in 1904 Ann Arbor Milling Co. Panel Information 1866 birdseye view of flour mill

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : From Industry to Parks

Sponsored by Arbor Springs Water Company

Photos Courtesy of Al Gallup and the Bentley Historical Library

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Panel Information Lower town map, 1853 Northern brewery, 1894 Alber & Co. Workshop sheds

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : The Agricultural Works and Lower Town

Sponsored by the Moore/Howley Family

Photos Courtesy of the Moore family and the Bentley Historical Library

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1874 detail millrace map Eli Moore and Family Panel Information Lower town from State street, 1866 Agricultural Works, 1866

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : The Clairvoyant Physician

Sponsored by Hazel and Edmund Koli

Photos Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

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Daniel Kellogg portrait, 1865 Panel Information Kellogg building, 1938 Dr. Daniel Kellogg's Building Kelloggs Home, 1830s Kellogg letter, 1872

SITE 10: Broadway Bridge Porcelain Display : The Underground Railroad

Sponsored by Carol and Robert Mull

Photos Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

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Signal of Liberty, 1841 Rev. Guy Beckley House, 1930s Panel Information Fifth Ward School, 1855

Panel Information: Along the Michigan Central Railroad Tracks

The depot shown in the 1886 view above was built in 1845. The arrival of the first train from Detroit on October 17, 1839, assured Ann Arbor's future as a center for commerce and education. A grand celebration began at the original depot and ended at the county courthouse. By 1841 the first students at the University of Michigan could arrive by train from Detroit or Jackson. The Michigan Central Railroad reached Chicago in 1852.

Panel Information: "The Finest on the Line"

This 1886 depot, built for the Michigan Central Railroad in grand Richardsonian Romanesque style, was the gateway to Ann Arbor at a time when trains were the major means of intercity travel. The central building had ornate waiting rooms, an elaborate ticket booth, coffered wood ceilings, stained glass windows, and a large terra-cotta fireplace. Packages were shipped from the express office on the west. Trunks and other luggagewere checked and retrieved at a baggage building on the east. A long track side roof sheltered passengers and connected the three buildings. East of the station, a garden with a fountain greeted visitors.

Enthusiastic crowds came to see presidents, prominent politicians, and visiting dignitaries, some of whom spoke from the rear platform of the train. A few, such as pianist Ignace Paderewski, arrived with private railway cars. Patriotic fanfare and emotional farewells sent troops off to war. UM football teams departed and returned to mobs of cheering fans.

Panel Information: Early Power and Transportation

From the hill above Plank Road in the 1870s (North Main Street today), you could look back toward where you are now standing and view sources of Ann Arbor's early power and transportation. In the panorama, find your location, along with the dam, the millpond, and the millrace. Beginning in 1830, they supplied power for Lower Town’s mills. Sinclair’s Mill stood to your right.

After 1839, when the railroad reached Ann Arbor from Detroit, paper, wool, flour, and feed from the mills, as well as livestock held in pens in the foreground,could be shipped to eastern markets. Coal arrived by rail for the Ann Arbor Gas Company, which built its first works in 1858 across from the old depot. Lumber arrived for Selleck Wood’s and other lumberyards and planing mills nearby.