YPSILANTI, Mich. – Ypsilanti isn’t just home to Eastern Michigan University and the first Domino’s Pizza. It’s a historic city that has charm and culture dating back more than 200 years.
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When the Depot Town section of Ypsilanti was established in 1838, the Western Hotel was built on Cross Street. It was a large brick hotel that had shops on the ground floor. While impressive, it was not financially successful and the property was purchased by Michigan Central Railroad. The hotel was demolished and the bricks were carried across the street to be used in a new building.
Despite many setbacks and demolition proposals, the historic building still stands proud today. It’s been known as the Thompson Block for roughly 150 years due to a long-term occupancy by the Thompson family and their businesses.
The new building, initially named the Norris Block, was completed in 1861. The three-story structure was designed for shops and apartments but was quickly transitioned into barracks for 14th and 27th Michigan Infantry Regiments during the American Civil War. The building was also reportedly used as a station for the Underground Railroad.
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In Carol E Mull’s 2010 book “The Underground Railroad in Michigan,” Mull writes that tunnels ran under the literal railroad crossing, connecting the basements of the Thompson Block and other businesses in Depot Town that were constructed to move supplies without crossing the busy railroad.
“By oral tradition, freedom seekers hid in the tunnels during the day, then exited to the Huron River at night where a boat carried them to the next station. Some people may have known that Leonard Chase’s Underground Railroad station lay behind the Thompson Block. The existing tunnels may have provided a hiding place for freedom seekers by day and a passageway to the river at night, though they were not constructed for that purpose.”
'The Underground Railroad in Michigan' -- Carol E Mull
A Michigan Historical Site plaque installed in 2012 honors the Thompson Building’s legacy and connection to the Civil War.
After the defeat of the Confederacy, the Thompson families’ businesses continued to expand and evolve. They made carriages, sold wagons, farming equipment and supplies, paint, bicycles and more. While they owned the building, their businesses didn’t occupy the entire place and its north end was rented out to other businesses in the area.
Ypsilanti’s second volunteer fire company was established in the 1890s and took occupancy at the Thompson Block. Hose House No. 2 had a large bell on the roof that would be rung in the event of fire. Eventually, Hose House No. 2 merged with a professional fire department in 1898 and the newly-created agency moved across the street into a brand-new building that currently houses the Michigan Firehouse Museum.
Over time, the Thompson family’s businesses came and went, and by 1950, the building was put up for sale. It was used as a warehouse and deteriorated over the next 50 years. After several court orders, citations and lawsuits, the building passed hands a few times until a 2009 fire destroyed much of the interior, caused the floors and roof to collapse, and made the building unstable.
A 21-year-old man was convicted of arson for the fire in 2011.
The shell of the building, comprised of the stones from the Western Hotel nearly 200 years prior, was shored up with bracing. It stood vacant for almost a decade of lawsuits and legal battles before a development team signed on to rehabilitate the historic structure in 2017. A Lansing-based construction company was brought in to focus on stabilizing the shell and determining what parts could be safely reused.
The Thompson Block reopened in 2021 with the general floorplan returning to a style similar to when it was first built with businesses on the first floor and the upper floors housing apartments. The state of Michigan recognized the redevelopment and revival of the iconic structure for its Historic preservation in 2022.
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