Broadway Park: Renewing Ann Arbor's Public Riverfront

Broadway Park is the spot where the Michigan Central Railroad connected Ann Arbor to the rest of the country. Ever since the tracks were laid and the first locomotive chugged through in 1837, the train shaped the landscape and the land uses of the Old Fourth Ward and Lower Town.

The first rail station built by the Michigan Central Railroad. Used from 1845-1886, it was a purely functional building, near a lumberyard, coal sheds, and a restaurant on Depot Street.

The character of the area was soon one of manufacturing and commerce: the rails were used to export goods produced by the river industries and to import cargo from elsewhere. Passengers also rode this line, discovering great mobility between cities and regions. As a stop on the line from New York and Detroit to Chicago, Ann Arbor became an important trading post and an attractive place to visit.

Crowd by the Railway Tracks.

Connector to East-West Rail