Ann Arbor, Michigan
Arbor Ballet Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic
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 population 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.
History
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 incorporated as a village in 1833.
The town became a regional transportation
hub in 1839 with the arrival 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 technology base, which accelerated in
the 1970s and 1980s.
University of Mighigan
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 development money, and by
its graduates. On the other hand, Ann Arbor
has increasingly found itself grappling with
the effects of sharply rising land values
and gentrification, as well as urban sprawl
stretching far into the outlying countryside.
Cultural Events
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 history and sciences (see
Museums at the University 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
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.
Hands-On Museum
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. 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.
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.

A2 for the Ann Arborites

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. Ann Arbor sometimes
appears on citation indexes as an author,
instead of a location, often with the academic
degree MI, a misunderstanding of the Customer Service Center
abbreviation for Michigan. (Located diagonally across
the street from City Hall)

City Center Building, 1st Floor

220 East Huron

Welcome to Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

(734) 994-2700
Fax: (734) 994-1765
customerservice@a2gov.org