Ralph Gerganoff

Ralph Stephens Gerganoff (19 January 1887 – 25 November 1966), born Rashko Stoyanov Gerganov and also frequently referred to as R.S.

Gerganoff was born in Kereka, a village in Dryanovo Municipality, in Gabrovo Province, in northern central Bulgaria on 19 January 1887[1][2] and emigrated to the United States via Boston, Massachusetts on 14 Oct 1905.

From the late 1920s through the 1950s, Gerganoff was to become the unofficial architect of the city of Ypsilanti and its surrounding townships, designing virtually all the public schools, fire stations, the hospital, and other public buildings, as well as Cleary College, the Washtenaw Country Club, numerous churches, business, factories, union halls, and the Salvation Army headquarters in Ypsilanti.

He also designed many private dwellings, ranging from small Cape Cod cottages to large Eclectic and Tudor styled mansions, and apartment buildings.

He was responsible for designing around two dozen service stations in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas, after heavy use many of them have been demolished and replaced.