People

• Ypsilanti has been the historic stop of many of the President's of the United States. Prior to Michigan becoming a state, President Martin Van Buren made a historic stop and spoke, at the train station in Ypsilanti. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant made a speech at the train station in Ypsilanti. In 1998, President William J. Clinton visited Eastern Michigan University and made Abe's Coney Island world-famous as his favorite dining spot.
• In 1881 Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was thrown off the train at the Ypsilanti station when the conductor found out he did not have a passenger ticket. History notes that he secretly boarded the train in Chicago and was thrown off in Ypsilanti. He then made his way to Washington D.C. and assassinated President Garfield at the train station. This journey was extensively researched and documented by the Secret Service. True!
• Preston Tucker opened his first plant in Ypsilanti where he worked on the prototype of the Tucker automobile. Mr. Tucker was featured in the movie starring Jeff Bridges titled "Tucker-A Man and His Dream." His home, standing today in Ypsilanti, is a popular tourist attraction.
• Ypsilanti was also home to the real McCoy - engineer and inventor Elijah McCoy. Mr. McCoy's lubrication systems were so famous and so widely imitated that machine buyers always asked, "Is this the real McCoy?"
• Mr. Shelly B. Hutchinson of the S & H Green Stamps developed the whole idea of trading stamps in Historic Depot Town in Ypsilanti. He built a beautiful mansion near the Huron River in Ypsilanti that still stands, which is a monument to his great success in the trading stamp business.
• On May 16, 1952 General Douglas MacArthur spoke in Ypsilanti at the Old City Hall Building. This speech drew a crowd of nearly 10,000 spectators and marked the first time that anyone had been given the key to the City.
• Rumor has it that Patsy Cline once lived in Ypsilanti as well as Phyllis Diller who sang in the Presbyterian Church.