History Of Ann Arbor, Michigan
In the U.S. state of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a city and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census reported a population of 113,934 people. It is the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area’s main town, which includes all of Washtenaw County. The larger Greater Detroit Combined Statistical Area also includes Ann Arbor.
The house of the University of Michigan is Ann Arbor. As it hires about 30,000 employees, including about 12,000 in the medical center, the university greatly shapes Ann Arbor ‘s economy. The city’s economy is also focused on high-technology, with the university’s research and development infrastructure attracting many companies to the region.
Ann Arbor was founded in 1824, named after the wives of the founders of the village, both named Ann, and the bur-oak trees. The University of Michigan moved in 1837 from Detroit to Ann Arbor, and in the early to mid-20th century, the city grew at a rapid rate. The city developed a reputation as a base for left-wing politics during the 1960s and 1970s. In political activism, such as opposition to the Vietnam War and support for cannabis legalization, Ann Arbor became a focal point.
The Potawatomi founded two villages in about 1774 in the area of what is now Ann Arbor. The land speculators, John Allen and Elisha Walker Rumsey, founded Ann Arbor in 1824. On May 25, 1824, Wayne County recorded the town plat as “Annarbour”, the earliest known use of the name of the town. Allen and Rumsey agreed to name it for their wives, both called Ann, and for the bur oak stands in the federal government’s 640 acres (260 ha ) of land they bought at $1.25 per acre for $800. After the sound of Allen’s sawmill, the local Ojibwa called the settlement kaw-goosh-kaw-nick.
The city developed a reputation as a significant hub for liberal politics during the 1960s and 1970s. As well as the student movement, Ann Arbor also became a locus for left-wing politics and the anti-Vietnam War movement. In Ann Arbor in 1960, the first major gatherings of the national left-wing campus party Students for a Democratic Society took place; in 1965, the town held the first U.S. teach-in against the Vietnam War. Many counter-cultural and New Left businesses arose and formed broad constituencies within the city during the subsequent 15 years. In the early and mid-1970s, these trends washed into local politics when three members of the Human Rights Party (HRP) secured city council seats on the strength of the student vote. HRP members advocated for legislation during their time on the council, including groundbreaking anti-discrimination laws, legislation to decriminalize possession of marijuana, and a rent-control ordinance; all of these progressive programs remain in effect in updated form today.
The city has a total area of 28.70 square miles, according to the United States Census Bureau, of which 27.83 square miles are land and 0.87 square miles are water, all of which is part of the Huron River. Ann Arbor is 11.2 miles west of Ypsilanti by road. Also, Ann Arbor is 42.1 miles west of Detroit by road. The Charter Township of Ann Arbor adjoins the north and east sides of the city.
The landscape of Ann Arbor consists of hills and valleys, with the terrain becoming steeper near the Huron River. Ann Arbor is located on the Huron River in a fertile agricultural and fruit-growing area. The elevation varies from around 750 feet along the Huron River to 1,015 feet on the west side of the city, near the Maple Road and Pauline Blvd. intersection. The highest areas of the city are usually the west-central and northwestern parts of the city and U-M ‘s North Campus; the lowest sections are along the Huron River and in the southeast. Ann Arbor Municipal Airport has an elevation of 839 feet, and is south of the city at 42 ° 13.38 ′ N 83 ° 44.74 ′ W.