Ypsilanti's Historic Four-Named Street

Just south of downtown there's a street with 4 names intersecting with a street that has had 3. What's the story of these 2 streets and their 7 names? Read about it in YpsiNews!

If you guess that Dusty D got a li'l frisson of delight at the chance to use the word "tetranomial," you would be correct. :D

Tantalizing Tidbits from the 1910 City Directory

Dusty D was reading the 1910 city directory and happened upon this strange pair of entries:

Hibbard Clarence M, florist, res 29 Race
Hibbard Henry A, mach hd, bds 29 Race

Now, it's interesting to see how much information can be distilled from these 2 laconic entries (there are no other Hibbards in the 1910 directory).

First of all: a florist living with a machinist? What's up with that? A male florist in 1910? Was this accepted, or looked on as hopelessly effete? Clarence!: who are you?

Second, Clarence apparently owned a home, or residence ("res") at 29 Race. not a rich part of town, but he still owned his home. How did a florist scrape enough $ together to buy a home?

Third, Henry A boards with him, or, gets meals and a room there. This suggests that Henry A is a child of Clarence. Often college students living with their parents are listed on old censuses as "boarding" with their folks. Perhaps Henry is Clarence's son.

Fourth, there are no women listed. Did either Clarence or Henry marry? If so, it's not recorded in the 1910 directory. If not, why not?

Neither man is listed in the 1905, 1924, or 1926 city directories that I have here at home. Pending further investigation in other city directories at the Archives, it's curious that they had such an apparently short tenure in Ypsi.

The florist and the machinist: what were their stories? Dusty D hopes to find out.

Wednesday Mystery Spot

(Sigh). OK, Dusty D thought she selected a mysteriously generic and obscure building for last week's Mystery Spot (cue audience laughter).

Dang nab it, I thought I was the only one in this big old world who knew about the lovely local directories secreted within Google Books! Another hope dies hard. (Shakes fist) Darn you, Google Books!
Ed V., BF, and Joe correctly guessed that this was the onetime Ypsilanti Laundry Company at Race (now Catherine) and Chidester, near the present-day Water Works Park. Joe added more information as well. He said, "I am assuming its the auto junk yard building on the corner of Catherine and Chidester." [Yes!] "Finding the perspective is difficult since the building seems to have been modified many times. Is it looking south from Catherine?"

Joe, I see a dirt road running across the bottom of the laundry photo. I'm guessing this is Chidester. So yes, I'm guessing this is a view looking southeast from a spot just south of Race/Catherine and on the west side of Chidester. Here's a modern satellite view:
So good job, guessers!

OK, I've given up on locating any single building, no matter how obscure, to quiz you folks. So this week I searched for a photo WITHOUT any of those pesky telltale buildings. Here's a shot from somewhere in town. There are a couple of clues in the photo as to where this photo was taken. OK, eagle-eyed 'Spotters, test your wits against this Mystery Spot!