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Trains carried an even more precious cargo into and out of Ann Arbor: people! The railroad provided a new way for people to conveniently get to Ann Arbor. Originally, the town had a simple wooden train station built in 1886. But after the big steam engines began to come more often the city voted to build a new, strong stone structure. That building still exists today and I bet you’ve driven by it dozens of times. Do you know what it is? I’ll give you two three hints. It’s at the bottom of a hill. It serves food now. And it kind of looks like a castle. Give up? The Gandy Dancer restaurant!
So where would people travel over one hundred years ago? The very first railroads only ran between Detroit and Ann Arbor and took about three hours. But by 1878, a line operated by the Ann Arbor Railroad Company ran from Toledo, Ohio to Frankfort, Michigan. The Michigan Central Railroad Company ran lines that went east to west and stopped in Detroit and Chicago. From Chicago, passengers could catch a train all the way to the East Coast - to New York, Washington, DC or Boston. Ann Arbor was really connected to the rest of the country in a whole new way!
Just to think about: