Ypsilanti Michigan: Not Ipsilanti

City of Ypsilanti, Michigan
The official website

"History of the City of Ypsilanti"
cityofypsilanti.com

"Ypsilanti is located where an old Indian trail crossed the Huron River and long before the coming of the white man, was the camping and burial ground for several native American tribes.

"In 1809 three French explorers built a log structure on the west bank of an Indian trading post and was one of the earliest structures in the vast, sparsely populated Michigan territory whose citizens, including forts, numbered just 4,762.

"Gabriel Godfrey, proprietor of the trading post, was followed in 1823 by Benjamin Woodruff who, along with several companions, established a small settlement on the river a mile south of the post and named it Woodruff's Grove, the first settlement in Washtenaw County...."

You might think that Ypsilanti is an anglicized name from the Huron language. Turns out, Ypsilanti is named for Demetrius Ypsilanti, a Greek fellow who made quite a name for himself around the time folks were setting Ypsilanti up. Except it wasn't Ypsilanti until the locals decided to use Demetrius Ypsilanti's name.

The Lemming still has a cold: please excuse me.

Woodruff's Grove might have been the major city in that area - but a survey crew decided that a federal highway connecting Detroit and Chicago should cross the Huron River a mile north of Woodruff's Grove. Then the school in W.G. burned down.

There's more about Ypsilanti, Demetrius, and Depot Town. Also a lot of other places and people that you'd know about if you lived there. Sounds like a pretty nice place to live, actually.

They've got a solar powered city hall, too.