Ann Arbor, Michigan “Annarbour”.

The city became the seat workers, including about 7,500 in the
of Washtenaw County in 1827, and was medical center. The city’s economy
incorporated as a village in 1833. The is also centered on high-technology,
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state
town became a regional transportation with several companies drawn to
of Michigan and the county seat of
hub in 1839 with the arrival of the the area by the university’s research
Washtenaw County. It is the state’s
Michigan Central Railroad, and was and development money, and by its
seventh largest city with a population
chartered as a city in 1851. During graduates.
of 114,024 as of the 2000 Census, of
the 1960s and 1970s, the city gained
which 36,892 (32%) are university or
a reputation as a center for liberal Culture and Events
college students. The city, which is part
politics. Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions
of the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI CSA,
is named after the spouses of the city’s and events are sponsored by the
founders and for the stands of trees in University of Michigan University of Michigan. Several
the area. Ann Arbor is home to the University performing arts groups and facilities
of Michigan, established in 1837. As are on the university’s campus, as are
Visit Ann Arbor the dominant institution of higher museums dedicated to art, archaeology,
learning in the city and one of the top and natural history and sciences
Ann Arbor was founded in January
public universities in the world, the (see Museums at the University
1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey,
university provides Ann Arbor with a of Michigan). Regional and local
both of whom were land speculators.
distinct college-town atmosphere. The performing arts groups not associated
On May 25, 1824, the town plot was
university shapes Ann Arbor’s economy with the university include the Ann
registered with Wayne County as
significantly as it employs about 30,000 Arbor Civic Theatre; the Arbor Opera
Theater; the Ann Arbor Symphony
Orchestra; the Ann Arbor Ballet
Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet
(established in 1954 as Michigan’s
first chartered ballet company); and
Performance Network, which operates
a downtown theater frequently offering
new or nontraditional plays.
Art in A2
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum,
located in a renovated and expanded
historic downtown fire station, contains
more than 250 interactive exhibits
featuring science and technology.
Multiple art galleries exist in the city,
notably in the downtown area and
around the University of Michigan
campus. Aside from a large restaurant
scene in the Main Street, South State
Street, and South University Avenue
areas, Ann Arbor ranks first among
U.S. cities in the number of booksellers
and books sold per capita. The Ann
Arbor District Library maintains four
branch outlets in addition to its main
downtown building; in 2008 a new
branch building replaced the branch
located in Plymouth Mall.
Sunday Morning by Carl Milles in
Ann Arbor
Several annual events – many of them
centered on performing and visual
arts – draw visitors to Ann Arbor. One
such event is the Ann Arbor Art Fairs,
a set of four concurrent juried fairs
held on downtown streets, which began
in 1960. Scheduled on Wednesday
through Saturday in the third week of
July, the fairs draw upward of half a
million visitors. One event that is not
related to visual and performing arts is
Hash Bash, held on the first Saturday
of April, ostensibly in support of the
reform of marijuana laws. It has been
celebrated since 1971.
Ann Arbor
People
A person from Ann Arbor is called an
“Ann Arborite”, and many long-time
residents call themselves “townies”. The
city itself is often called A² (“A-squared”)
or A2 (“A two”), and, less commonly,
Tree Town. Recently, some youths have
taken to calling Ann Arbor Ace Deuce
or simply The Deuce. With tongue-
in-cheek reference to the city’s liberal
political leanings, some occasionally
refer to Ann Arbor as The People’s
Republic of Ann Arbor or 25 square
miles surrounded by reality, the latter
phrase being adapted from Wisconsin
Governor Lee Dreyfus’s description of
Madison, Wisconsin.
Customer Service Center
(Located diagonally across the street
from City Hall)
City Center Building, 1st Floor
220 East Huron
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 994-2700
Fax: (734) 994-1765
E-mail: customerservice@a2gov.org