Ann Arbor, Michigan
nology base, which accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan
and the county seat of Washtenaw County. It
is the state’s seventh largest city with a popula-
tion of 114,024 as of the 2000 Census, of which
36,892 (32%) are university or college students.
The city, which is part of the Detroit-Ann Arbor-
Flint, MI CSA, is named after the spouses of the
city’s founders and for the stands of trees in the
area.
Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by
John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom
were land speculators. On May 25, 1824, the
town plot was registered with Wayne County
as “Annarbour”. The city became the seat of
Washtenaw County in 1827, and was incorpo-
rated as a village in 1833. The town became a
regional transportation hub in 1839 with the ar-
rival of the Michigan Central Railroad, and was
chartered as a city in 1851. During the 1960s and
1970s, the city gained a reputation as a center
for liberal politics. During the 20th century, the
economy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual
shift from a manufacturing base to a service and tech-
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan,
established in 1837. As the dominant institution of
higher learning in the city and one of the top public
universities in the world, the university provides Ann
Arbor with a distinct college-town atmosphere. The
university shapes Ann Arbor’s economy significantly
as it employs about 30,000 workers, including about
7,500 in the medical center. The city’s economy is also
centered on high-technology, with several companies
drawn to the area by the university’s research and de-
velopment money, and by its graduates. On the other
hand, Ann Arbor has increasingly found itself grap-
pling with the effects of sharply rising land values
and gentrification, as well as urban sprawl stretching
far into the outlying countryside.
Attractions
Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions and events
are sponsored by the University of Michigan.
Several performing arts groups and facilities
are on the university’s campus, as are museums
dedicated to art, archaeology, and natural his-
tory and sciences (see Museums at the Univer-
sity of Michigan). Regional and local performing
arts groups not associated with the university
include the Ann 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 down-
town theater frequently offering new or nontra-
ditional plays.
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. Mul-
tiple art galleries exist in the city, notably in the
downtown area and around the University of
Michigan campus. Aside from a large restau-
rant 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 build-
ing; in 2008 a new branch building replaced
the branch located in Plymouth Mall. This new
branch is called the Traverwood Branch, and
opened on June 30, 2008. The city is also home
to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
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.
Ann Arbor sometimes appears on citation indexes as
an author, instead of a location, often with the aca-
demic degree MI, a misunderstanding of the abbre-
viation for Michigan.

Customer Service Center

Events
(Located diagonally across the street from City
Hall)
Several annual events – many of them centered City Center Building, 1st Floor
on performing and visual arts – draw visitors 220 East Huron
to Ann Arbor. One such event is the Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Art Fairs, a set of four concurrent juried fairs (734) 994-2700
held on downtown streets, which began in Fax: (734) 994-1765
1960. Scheduled on Wednesday through Satur-
day in the third week of July, the fairs draw up- E-mail: customerservice@a2gov.org
ward 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 marijua-
na laws. It has been celebrated since 1971.

Fun Facts
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