Discover Ypsilanti: Depot Town, museums, and Riverside Park

Ypsilanti offers several distinct reasons to visit: Depot Town is known for its historic commercial architecture, museums focus on historic buildings and automotive history, and Riverside Park offers trails and activities along the Huron River. This makes it easy to plan your visit around specific interests: a stroll among brick buildings, a particular museum topic, or time in the park cycling, walking, or fly fishing.

Depot Town: Brick Buildings and Walking Trails

Depot Town is one of Ypsilanti’s three historic commercial districts. Rows of original brick buildings dating from around the turn of the 20th century define the district. You can stroll along the cobblestone paths. Architecture and walking are part of the same visit here, but appeal to different interests: the buildings draw your attention to historic commercial architecture, while a stroll focuses on the district as a place. The rows of buildings form a larger architectural setting than a single house; the Ypsilanti Museum & Archives offers a different, specific focus on an original 19th-century house. If you’re interested in older buildings, Depot Town offers a distinct focus for planning your trip.

Museums with Different Areas of Focus

At the Ypsilanti Museum & Archives, you can tour an original 19th-century house. Check current opening hours before your visit to help ensure your plans work for a museum visit.

The Michigan Firehouse Museum includes an original firehouse dating from 1898 and a modern, multi-story exhibit area. The contrast in age between the historic building and modern exhibition space is a reason in its own right to consider this museum as a focus for your visit.

The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum tells the story of local automotive pioneers, including Tucker and Kaiser-Frazer. The focus here is on local automotive history, rather than a single historic house or firehouse.

The historic references also differ by period: the house at the Ypsilanti Museum & Archives dates from the 19th century, the firehouse from 1898, and the brick buildings in Depot Town from around the turn of the 20th century. The story of automotive pioneers adds a thematic focus. This lets you choose between historic houses and commercial architecture on the one hand, and local automotive history on the other.

Riverside Park on the Huron River

Riverside Park in Ypsilanti offers trails for cycling and walking. Along the Huron River, there are several areas with easy river access that are suitable for fly fishing. This gives you two different ways to plan time in the park: activities on the trails or fly fishing at the river access points. The interests in the park are distinct: cycling and walking on one hand, fly fishing on the other. This is a different focus for a trip than architecture or museum topics: here, it comes down to which outdoor activity you prefer.

Explore more destinations: Milan, Ann Arbor, Pittsfield

For the regional travel overview: Washtenaw.