About
Ann Arbour is located in the Michigan city of the United States. It is home to the world renowned University of Michigan. The city stands out for its educational culture and flora and fauna.
Here’s looking at some lesser known facts about this unique destination.
Origin
It was founded in 1824 by land speculators John Allen and Elisha Walker Rumsey. The city got its name from their wives. Incidentally, both were named Ann! Talk about keeping the better halves happy!
The second half of the name ‘Arbour’ is derived from the stands of the Bur Oak. This is an important feature of this green city.
Fun Facts
Moving on to more fun facts, Ann Arbour has a collection of ‘fairy doors’ scattered all around the city. The first public door appeared in 2005, and since then, city residents have been leaving gifts like nickels and candies for their fairy friends.
The Green City
This verdant city has 158 parks and over 1.45 million trees. No wonder it is called the ‘Tree Town.’ It’s just one of the myriad reasons making Ann Arbour a desirable place to live.
Moreover, Ann Arbourites are proud of being named as ‘Recycling Pioneers’ by the EPA as early as 1998. Also, the city is constantly ranked at the top of lists like ‘Greenest Cities in America,’ making it a haven of sorts in this world riddled with environment and climate challenges.
Completely antidotal to this, there’s a wall covered entirely in used chewing gum in Graffiti Alley. It was initially painted in 1999 as an original artwork by local artist Katherine Cost. The Graffiti Alley has become a spot for people to express themselves. People indulge in spray painting, drawing or sticking a piece of gum on the wall!
Did you know that the University of Michigan is home to the largest stadium in the United States and the second-largest stadium in the entire world? Constructed between 1926 and 1927, the stadium has a capacity for more than 113,000 people. Being in the colossal Michigan Stadium packed full of people is a truly incredible sight and must be experienced at least once!
Food to die for!
Zingerman’s Deli is a hot favourite amongst celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. In fact, in 2014, when the former President came to Ann Arbor to talk about raising the federal minimum wage, he stopped by Zingerman’s Deli for lunch and ordered the popular Reuben sandwich. Besides, the local deli also prepared a sandwich for him in 2010 and served up their limited-time ice cream offering, ‘Baracky Road Gelato,’ which he was reportedly “a huge fan of”.
Ann Arbour is home to the fragel made with a yummylicious raisin bagel dough that is deep fried then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Need we say more?
Trivia
Whilst Ann Arbour has the deep fried fragels to its credit, it also believes in its carrots! Yes! On the northeast side of Ann Arbour, there’s a huge installation of massive stone carrots, some of which stand at a towering 10-feet-tall. Actually this is created outside the warehouse used by Food Gatherers, a food bank and food rescue organization. The carrot being the organization’s symbol and logo, are visible on their trucks, interior decorations and, of course, outside their warehouse in this gigantic form.
The Argus camera company was founded in Ann Arbor in 1936. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that an Argus C3 made an appearance in the popular Hollywood flick ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’.