Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Street Railway

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Street Railway
Company type	Private company
Industry	Transportation
Founded	August 30, 1890; 136 years ago in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States
Founder	Charles Delemere Haines (founder of Haines Company)
Defunct	1898
Fate	Merged into Detroit, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Railway
Headquarters	Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States
Area served	Southeastern Michigan
Products	Interurban railroad service

The Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Street Railway, commonly referred to as the Ypsi-Ann, holds the distinction of being Michigan's inaugural interurban railroad, serving southeastern Michigan.

History

In October 1889, Ypsilanti, Michigan extended an invitation to the Haines Company based in Kinderhook, New York to construct a street railway system. The following summer, Charles Delemere Haines, the company's founder, concluded that Ypsilanti alone could not sustain a streetcar operation. He therefore proposed establishing a 7.5-mile interurban line linking Ypsilanti with nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. His estimates indicated a daily ridership of approximately 500 passengers, considerably surpassing the 40 daily users of the existing Michigan Central Railroad trains.

Officially incorporated on August 30, 1890, the enterprise developed a line stretching westward from Ypsilanti to the outskirts of Ann Arbor near Wells Street. Construction commenced on October 22 and was finalized by December 19. However, the Ann Arbor Common Council refused authorization for the line’s extension into the city proper due to objections over its original steam-powered motive system, which was cleverly disguised as a wagon to prevent startling horses. Local residents also opposed the noise generated by this setup. As a result, the AA&YRy collaborated with the Ann Arbor Street Railway to facilitate passenger transfers at the city boundary via electric streetcars.

Service: 1891–1929

Steam-powered service officially launched on January 9, 1891. Shortly thereafter, on January 26, ownership acquired the AASRy; despite this, both entities continued to operate independently. The line quickly surpassed expectations by transporting around 600 passengers daily and encouraged greater interaction between students from the University of Michigan and Normal College.

Trains operated at intervals of ninety minutes with an average speed near eight miles per hour and initially charged a fare of ten cents.

On August 26, 1896, a merger combined both companies into the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Electric Railway (AA&YRy). By November of that year, full electrification was achieved, enabling direct travel between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The Ypsilanti station was situated on Washington Street close to Michigan Avenue; meanwhile, Ann Arbor’s station stood at West Huron and Ashley Streets. Later, on May 11, 1898, the Detroit, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Railway (DY&AA) took ownership of AA&YRy, expanding interurban service into a 40-mile route connecting Detroit and Ann Arbor.

Shutdown

Eventually absorbed by the Detroit, Jackson and Chicago Railway, the interurban system discontinued operations in 1929 as buses and automobiles became dominant competitors. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor’s local trolley system transitioned to bus service in January 1925.

Legacy

The downtown terminal in Ann Arbor was replaced by the Greyhound depot in 1940 and remained operational until a hotel development occupied the site in 2015. An intermediate station located at Mallets Creek Settlement in Pittsfield Township later served as the municipal office for the short-lived city of East Ann Arbor from 1947 until 1956.

Although thought to have been removed during World War II scrap drives, a segment of Ypsilanti’s original tracks resurfaced during Washington Street reconstruction efforts in 2004.

Currently, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority operates four bus routes connecting downtown Ann Arbor with Ypsilanti. Among these, Route 5 closely follows much of the former interurban corridor and ranked as the third most utilized route in 2023.

External links

Photographs of streetcars once operated by Ypsi-Ann