The Ann Arbor station is a former

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

station located at 401 Depot Street in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. It was converted into a restaurant, the Gandy Dancer, in 1970, and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as Michigan Central Railroad Depot in 1975.

History

Crowd at Ann Arbor train station sending off football team, 1914

The

was constructed through Ann Arbor in 1839, and quickly became the center of travel and shipping for Ann Arbor. The line reached

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

by 1852. By the late 1880s, the railroad was replacing depots at a number of stations along its lines. Each depot was of a different design, and for the Ann Arbor station, the railroad selected Frederick Spier of the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

firm Spier & Rohns as the architect. The station was built by Gearing and Sons, also of Detroit, and completed in 1886. Two other small buildings, a railway express office and a baggage station, were constructed nearby. The depot was often used, with 13 Detroit-to-Chicago runs per day in 1915, plus additional shorter local runs. Famous personalities passing through included

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, and in 1960

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Noteworthy passenger trains were the ''

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

'' Chicago-Detroit-New York via Southwest Ontario, the ''

Chicago Mercury ''Mercury'' was the name used by the New York Central Railroad for a family of daytime streamliner passenger trains operating between midwestern cities. The ''Mercury'' train sets were designed by the noted industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, an ...

'' and the ''

Twilight Limited The ''Twilight Limited'' was a named passenger train in the United States which initially operated between Chicago, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan. The New York Central Railroad introduced the train in 1926, and it continued until the formatio ...

'' (latter two, Chicago-Detroit).New York Central Timetable, July 15, 1956, Tables 1, 2, 8, 16 However, the rise of the automobile led to the decline of passenger trains, which accelerated in the 1950s. By the 1960s, passenger service had slowed to a trickle, and in 1970 the railroad sold the station to restaurateur Chuck Muer, who converted the station into a restaurant, the Gandy Dancer. In 1976, the restaurant was expanded, enclosing the space between the main depot and the former baggage station.

Description

The Michigan Central Railroad Depot is a

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

structure built solely of rock-faced masonry. The stones were quarried from Four Mile Lake, located between Chelsea and

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

. The architectural features of the building, such as arches and lintels are emphasized by changes in color and texture in the stone. The building has a high gable roof with two dormers. The eastern portion of the building has large arched windows, and the western portion has double-hung windows with small circular ones above. The main entrance is through a large round-topped arch; the doorway had been modernized. The interior of the original depot featured an elaborate ticket booth, a ceiling and trim made of red oak, French tile floors, stained glass windows, and a large terra cotta fireplace. The only alteration of the original space is the addition of an interior balcony.

References

External links

The Gandy Dancer
restaurant {{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Washtenaw County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Washtenaw County, Michigan Former New York Central Railroad stations Romanesque Revival architecture in Michigan Railway stations in the United States opened in 1886 1886 establishments in Michigan Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Railway stations closed in 1970 Transportation in Ann Arbor, Michigan Buildings and structures in Ann Arbor, Michigan Former Michigan Central Railroad stations Former railway stations in Michigan

History

Description

See also

References

External links