Ypsilanti Farmers Market

Depot Town is home to the Ypsilanti Farmers Market which is housed in a 120 year old brick railroad freight house located at the railroad tracks.  The market sells produce, foods and crafts and also offers entertainment but is also unique because the brick railroad freight building is such an integral part of the city's history and to the historic significance of the U.S. 12 Heritage Trail. Traveling by railroad was so popular in Michigan that, according to the City of Ypsilanti within the first year nearly 200 passengers were transported daily from Detroit to Ypsilanti. The railroad made it much easier for Michigan's farmers to ship goods to Ypsilanti and then throughout the United States and even into Canada.  It also brought about a boom in building flour mills, saw mills and other industries including hotels that were part of the mass transportation system that flourished here until after World War II and the building of the interstate system.

 

The freight house was at one time much more ornate with three stories built in the elaborate Second Empire architectural style.  A fire in 1910 wreaked havoc on the structure and in 1939 further damage was done by train cars careening off the track and hitting the building.  Still, after some of the structure was rebuilt, it continues to serve the community, albeit in a much different capacity than before.  But that only shows the resiliency not only of the building but the community which embraces its historic root.