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1900-1999

Ann Arbor 1900

POPULATION:
14,509

1900

William Jennings Bryan delivers a campaign speech, interrupted by student heckling, at Ann Arbor Courthouse.

1901

U of M National Football Championship.

1902

U of M National Football Championship. Desderide Grocery (later Zingermans) built. The AAUW (American Association of University Women) Ann
Arbor Branch was founded.

1903

U of M National Football Championship.

1904

First movie, The Great Train Robbery, at Light Infantry Armory. A2 High School burned down. U of M National Football Championship. YMCA building completed at 100 N. Fourth Ave.  

  

1905

In a game called the "First Great Game of the Century," undefeated Chicago defeated undefeated Michigan 2-0.  Tragically, U of M football player, William Clark, considered the goat of the game, shot himself seven years later.   

1906

First nickleloeon, Theatorium, 199 E. Liberty; the first vaudeville house, The Bijou at 209 E. Washington.

1907

New Ann Arbor High School opened. Majestic Theater opened. Carnegie Library built.

1908

Star Theater student riot.

1909

Ann Arbor Art Association, the oldest community arts organization in Michigan, was established.

Ann Arbor 1910

POPULATION:
14,817

1910

Burns Park is named after Botany Professor George Burns, also the Parks Commissioner. Braun Court built.

1911

Armory completed at northwest corner of Fifth and Ann St. 

1912

Edison built Barton Dam.

1913

Hill Auditorium completed.

1914

First municipal bathing beach on Huron river. Island Park Shelter built. Edison Power station built at 987 Broadway.

1915

Martha Cook dormitory completed.   

1916

First Ann Arbor Red Cross chapter formed. Lane Hall built 204 S. State. Beth Isreal Congregation started.

1917

2200 Ann Arborites registered for the draft to fight in WWI. Allmendinger Park was started by a gift of 3.25 acres in 1917 from Mr. G. Frank Allmendinger.

1918

U of M National Football Championship.    

1919

Farmers Market started and moved to current location in 1930s. Barton Hills golf club built. Michigan Union built. Eli Gallup named first Superintend of Parks.  

Ann Arbor 1920

POPULATION:
19,516

1920

Ann Arbor Fire Station Engine house opened. 

1921

General Ferdinand Foch, Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces, speaks in Ann Arbor on Nov. 7.

1922

James J. Crawford Elks Lodge was chartered. Elisha Jones School (now Community High) opened. Huron Hills Golf Course opened.

1923

U of M National Football Championship. First Zoning law was established.     

 

1924

Centennial celebration on Feb 27, 588 guests at the Michigan Union. Angell Hall built.   

1925

Actress Martha Vickers born in Ann Arbor and died in LA in 1971. Ann Arborite Herb Twining founded Camp Al-Gon-Quian in 1925 as a private residential camp for boys.

  

1926

Salvation Army built its headquaters downtown at the southwest corner of Fifth and Washington.

1927

Michigan football stadium built; Land Title Building built at 106 N. Fourth.

1928

Opening of the Michigan Theater; Wil-Dean Apartment built at 200 N. State. A2 Symphony Orchestra formed. 

1929

Booker Brooks was the first African American to letter in track. Kingsley Post Apartments built at 809 E. Kingsley. Michigan League opened. Ann Arbor Civic Theater opened. Completion of the First National Bank Building at 201 S. Main Street.

Ann Arbor 1930

POPULATION:
26,944

1930

The Great Depression begins. Ann Arbor saved by University of Michigan.

1931

Farmers Market moved to its current location.

1932

U of M National Football Championship; Gerald Ford played center. The Rock was placed at Hill and Washtenaw by Eli Gallup. The Intercooperative Council was formed with the first cooperative housing.

1933

American Broach, King-Seeley and Hoover Ball and Bearing all had cut off production and laid off workers.  Another U of M National Football championship with Gerald Ford at center. Schlanderers & Sons jewelery founded.     

1934

Gerald Ford protested the benching of African-American player, Willis Ward, at the U of M-Georgia Tech game.   

1935

Bentley Historical Library created.

1936

Burton Memorial tower completed. 

1937

Herman Weber opened Weber's Restaurant after working for Bill Metzger as a dishwasher.  

1938

The Water Treatment Plant for Ann Arbor was built.

1939

German Park opens on Pontiac Trail. The Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club (AAFSC) was established.

Ann Arbor 1940

POPULATION:
29,815

1940

Schumacher's Hardware closed.

1941

Ann Arbor's first black attorney, John L. Ragland, began practicing in the Kayser Block building.

1942

The State Theater opened.

1943

Japanese Submarine Parade.  The sub had been captured at Pearl Harbor.     

1944

Katherine Anderson of the Marvelettes was born this year in Ann Arbor. Cazzie Russell was born this year.   

1945

On August 14, a huge crowd gathered downtown to celebrate the end of WWII. U of M classes were cancelled.

1946

Virginia Patton Moss, a movie star, played Ruth Bailey in a Wonderful Life. She was a U of M grad and raised her family in Ann Arbor. She died in 2022.

1947

U of M National Football Championship.    

1948

U of M National Football Championship.  

1949

Opening of the Flame, Ann Arbor first gay bar.   

Ann Arbor 1950

POPULATION:
48,251

1950

U of M Professor William Palmer and his wife, Mary, hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build a house at 227 Orchard Hills.

1951

Ann Arbor City Women's Club started. Ann Arbor Amateur Hockey Association started.

1952

The first effective polio vaccine was created by Dr. Jonas Salk, once a research fellow at U of M. Potters Guild opens.

1953

Eddie Owens became the first black detective in Ann Arbor.     

 

1954

Ann Arbor Ski Club held first meeting.

1955

James Earl Jones graduated from U-M this year. Vets Park was named. The site used to be the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds.    

1956

YMCA and YWCA merged for the first time in the US, and raised money to build a new facility at 350 S. Fifth. The city of East Ann Arbor merged with Ann Arbor.

1957

Paul Robeson not allowed to perform in Ann Arbor because of race and political views.

1958

International Neighbors started this year. The Ann Arbor Public Library moved from the Carnegie Library on Huron to its current location at 343 S. Fifth.   

1959

Economist Kenneth Boulding started the Center for the Study of Conflict Resolution while a U-M Professor. Big George's opened this year. Big Georges was established by an immigrant family from Syria. It is considered one of the major appliance stores in Michigan at this time and still carries the founder’s nickname.

Ann Arbor 1960

POPULATION:
67,340

1960

JFK's speech in Ann Arbor. University Reformed Church built at 1001 E. Huron. Students for Democratic society first met in Ann Arbor. Local resident Alan Haber became its first President. Ann Arbor Art Fair begins. Treasure Mart opens on Detroit St. 

1961

Heidleberg Restaurant opened on Main Street.

1962

Ann Arbor Zoo (started in 1929) closed this year.  It was located behind the Ruthven Museum off Geddes.

1963

J. David Singer, U of M Political Science Professor, started the Correlates of War project and helped form the Peace Science Society. The Ann Arbor Film Festival, the oldest avant garde and experimental film festival in North America, was founded by George Manupelli.

1964

Ann Arbor passed a fair housing ordinance.  

 

1965

Anti-War movement began at the U of M in 1965. The first teach-in against the Vietnam War. The Ark began on Hill Street as a collobration of four churches: First Presbyterian, Calvary Presbyterian, Northside Presbyterian churches and Campus Chapel. Sister city relationship with Tubingen, Baden-Wurtteberg, Germany, began. Washtenaw Community College opens.

1966

Four UFOs were sited in Lima Township, red-green objects moving at fantastic speeds. They remain a mystery. 

1967

Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair begins. Old West Side Association started. Leslie Park golf course opened.

  

1968

A bomb went off in downtown Ann Arbor at 450 S. Main St. David Valler later confessed to the attack. White Panther party formed by Pun Plamondon, Leni Sinclair and John Sinclair.  Ann Arbor Antiques Market founded.

1969

Ann Arbor Historical Foundation formed. Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is founded. The City of A2 acquired Kempf House and turned it into a museum. Ann Arbor Blues Festival started. 

Ann Arbor 1970

POPULATION:
100,035

1970

Black Action Movement stages first protest against the policies and actions of U of M, closing campus for 18 days.

1971

The public housing complex, Miller Manor, was built. People's Food Coop opened. Power Center built. John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena with John Lennon, Yolo Ono, Bob Seger, Phil Ochs and Stevie Wonder.

1972

Former Jones School reopened as Community High School. Old West Side History District listed on National Register of Historic Places. A2 Blue Festival became the A2 Blues and Jazz Festival. First Hash Bash.

1973

Division Street Historic District created. Main library on S. Fifth opened. Briarwood Mall opened. Comic Opera Guild formed.    

  

1974

Sesquicentennial year. Kerrytown Market Building was finished at 405-415 N. Fifth. First Ann Arbor Pow Wow. Dexter Ann Arbor Run begins. 

1975

Liberty Street Historic District (West) created. Albert Wheeler is elected, A2s only Black Mayor.  

1976

Ann Arbor Observer launched publication.

1977

The Ann Arbor District Library was doubled in size with an addition designed by Donald Van Curler.   

1978

Old West Side, Central Campus, and Northern Brewery Historic Districts created.

1979

Ann Street Historic Block created. Ann Arbor Hands On Museum opens. Michigan Theater Foundation opens. The Muslim Community Association Center on Plymouth Rd., which serves the Muslim community in Ann Arbor and surrounding areas, was established. 

Ann Arbor 1980

POPULATION:
107,969

1980

Washtenaw/Hill Historic District 1 created.  The first Naked Mile. It ended in 2004. State Street Area Association is formed.

1981

Fischer's Hardware closed.100 Ann Arbor citizens join together to create one of the first local energy plans in the United States.

1982

Cobblestone Historic District created. Zingerman's Deli opened.

1983

Old Fourth Ward Historic District created. DDA created by Council action.      

1984

Famous People Mural created by Richard Wolk at 300 S. State. Dioxane found in Ann Arbor's drinking water from Gelman's use of it to produce medical filters. Kerrytown Concert House formed.  

1985

Slow pitch softball peaked with 450 teams and 6300 players. Dominos Pizza moves to Dominos Farms. Pretzel Bell closes.  

   

1986

Washtenaw/Hill Historic District 1 created. The first Naked Mile; It ended in 2004. State Street Area Association is formed.

1987

Dr. Edward Linker and Dennis Chernin moved a Queen Anne Victorian from 410-416 S. Main to 2345 Huron Parkway.

1988

Showcase Cinemas opened this year at 4100 Carpenter Rd. Whiffletree restaurant burns down.

1989

East William Street, Fourth/Ann Street and Main Street Historic Districts created. U of M Basketball National Championship.  

Ann Arbor 1990

POPULATION:
110,168

1990

Live Nirvana concert at the Blind Pig.

1991

YMCA expanded to provide single room occupancy for up to 100 single rooms.

1992

State Street Historic District and East Liberty Street Historic Block created.

1993

African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County formed, now at 1528 Pontiac Trail. Drake's Sandwich Shop closes. The only Chinese language weekly newspaper, the Michigan Chinese American News, began publication.

1994

The Chinese American Society of Ann Arbor was founded.

1995

Aut Bar, the only gay bar, established. First year of Ann Arbor Pride Festival. Schlenkers Hardware (last one downtown) closed.

1996

Ku Klux Klan rally in downtown Ann Arbor. Keish Thomas gains national recognition for shielding a protestor. The Ark opened at its current location on Main Street. African American Cultural and History Museum opens.

1997

U of M National Football Championship. Letita Byrd selected as Ann Arbor's first Citizen of the Year. First year of the Ann Arbor African American Downtown Festival.

1998

Mack School became Ann Arbor Open School.

1999

Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program installs first Historic marker at Courthouse Square. County wide Art + Cultural summit. 

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