History of Ann Arbor, Michigan

Rumsey died in 1827; Allen eventually became the town's postmaster, newspaper publisher, village president, and all-around promoter.

Ann Arbor became the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827, incorporated as a village in 1833, and was chartered as a city in 1851, which was also the year that John Allen died.

On October 14, 1960, Kennedy outlined his proposal for what would become the Peace Corps on the front steps of the Michigan Union (a plaque still marks the spot).

Adopted through a ballot initiative sponsored by the local Human Rights Party, which feared a splintering of the liberal vote, the process was repealed in 1976 after use in only one election.

In 1969, avant-garde jazz bandleader Sun Ra and his Arkestra spent about a month living in an Ann Arbor frat house, with poet-impresario John Sinclair and his radical White Panther Party for next-door neighbors.

Four years after leaving the White House, Gerald R. Ford – a former student and college football player at Michigan – opened his Presidential Library in Ann Arbor.

[12] Ann Arbor also became the site of the Thomas More Law Center, a leading religious-conservative advocacy group founded in 1999.

Though the city attorney and police chief subsequently declared the law unenforceable, possession of marijuana for personal use has been essentially decriminalized in Ann Arbor for three decades, punishable only by a $25 civil-infraction fine and no criminal record.

[15] By late 2022, this advisory board had sent council a request to direct staff to evaluate the site for use for food truck rallies and other events.

[16] In April 2023, city staff responded to this request with a memorandum stating in part that "this site is not well-suited for use as a food truck rally or food truck installation and that it will require significant capital investment to bring the site up to a standard that would be safe, convenient, and attractive as a community event space.

"[17] The following city council meeting included public comments deriding the lack of progress from this advisory commission.

"[22][23] Hayner did not run for re-election in 2022 and Nelson lost her primary to Dharma Akmon in a series of elections that gave the mayor's faction 11-0 control of city council.

In addition to providing a large pedestrian mall, these changes allow restaurants to use more of the sidewalks and part of the street for outdoor seating.

[27] These changes were popular enough that in 2021 the city council extended the dates from March to November, continuing the schedule of cordoning off cars from Thursday evening until Monday morning.