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Ypsilanti Historic Walking Tour |
1. The downtown Ypsilanti walking tour begins at the Ypsilanti Historical Museum at 220 N. Huron. The brick Italianate Style home was built by Asa Dow in 1860. He was the first president of the First National Bank of Ypsilanti. He was also an incorporator of the Ypsilanti Woolen Manufacturing Company, famous for its long underwear. Later, A. H. Goodrich owned the home; he ran the Follett House Hotel in the Depot Town section of the city.
This is the one home on the tour that you may walk all the way around to see all four elevations, as well as the interior. The home is square in shape with wide eaves overhanging a central entrance and small porch, all typical Italianate Style features. On the exterior, note the tall arched windows and the white woodwork trim. The bay windows and double brackets at the roofline are also typical of Italianate Style architecture. The low hipped roof features three brick chimneys.
Inside, you'll notice a large wooden central staircase, wood floors, marble fireplaces, extensive stenciling, and plaster medallions on the ceiling. Some rooms have a ten inch wide cornice molding.
The building was divided into apartments in 1922, and was purchased by the city in 1966. It became the city museum in the early 1970s, and is restored as a single family home housing the museum's collection. The museum is furnished in the style of the time with donated furniture. It is run by the Ypsilanti Historical Society.
The museum is open Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 pm. Admission and parking are free. Donations are welcome. Phone: 734-482-4990. The city archives are located here as well, for those who might want to do more research.
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2. The next stop on the tour is the house next door to the north, at 304 N. Huron. This house is an excellent example of Second Empire Style: It is square in shape with a multi-colored, fish scale slate mansard roof. A mansard roof consists of a low pitched hip roof with steeply angled lower section, most always with dormers. The home also features a central tower, tall arched windows, dormers, central entrance with porch, and contrasting patterns in the brick work, called imbrication. The windows, some in pairs, have pediments. A pediment is a triangular shaped section usually found over a door or window.
Built in the 1860s by contractor John Weeks Flower Sr., (who also built the Follett House Hotel in the Depot Town section of the city) it was the home of Daniel Quirk. The home is one of the largest in Ypsilanti. Quirk founded the Peninsular Paper Company on the banks of the Huron River. His son donated the building to the city. From 1912-1978 it functioned as city hall. Today, it houses offices and apartments. The former carriage house in the back now also houses offices.
If time and inclination allow, one can detour off the path of the tour now by turning right on Cross St. and walking east down the hill and over the Huron River bridge (with views of Riverside Park, once the backyards of the homes on the tour) to the Depot Town area of the city. Originally a bustling area where the train stopped, the restored Italianate Style commercial buildings now house retail shops, such as antiques stores, great restaurants and a car museum. A visit here for lunch may be a satisfying diversion.
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3. Continuing on the walking tour, go straight across Cross Street and then cross Huron Street so that you are on the west side of Huron Street. Go to 415 N. Huron, the next stop on the tour. This Italianate Style home is known as the Wilkinson-Lewis house. It was built in 1877-78 by a Scotsman named James Wilkinson. The home is brick painted beige/grey to look like weathered stone. Note the high symmetrical slightly arched windows, the double brackets at the eaves, and the very low roof. There is raised wood rope-like carving around the doors and windows. Note the slender columns of the porch. Inside features include a black walnut staircase, center plaster medallions on the ceilings, stenciling and decorative paintwork. Note the "funeral door" to the left of the main entrance as you face the home. Many Victorian-era homes have this feature, necessary in the time before funeral parlors, when funerals were held at home. That door was used to bring caskets in and out of the home, directly into the parlor of the home. There are two garages outside; the one closest to the house was part of the original barn. The Lewis family owned the home until the early 1970s, when they gave it to Eastern Michigan University. The University used it to house visiting guests. The Ypsilanti Historical Society bought it in 1983 for a meeting place. It has since been restored to a single family home.
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