Ann Arbor Parks In the late nineteenth century, the riverside around the Broadway Bridge looked very different. The shoreline was often flooded or marshy. The riverside industries that employed many of Ann Arbor's workers controlled the north side of the river while the Michigan Central Railroad controlled the south shore. Fuel storage tanks, junk-strewn fields, slaug hterhouses and overgrown lots all lay along the river. Mayor Royal S. Copeland complained in 1902 that "to enter Lower Town it is necessary to cross the smoky Detroit Street bridge (now known as the Broadway Bridge), and traverse a long dusty street with the gas tanks on one side and foul smelling dump heaps on the other." For the past one hundred years, citizens of Ann Arbor have used these parks in many different ways. Picnics, canoeing, parties, band concerts, and sporting events have all shared the parks. Of course, these uses have not always meshed with each other. Topics: Background: Why Were the Parks Created? Building the Parks Recreation and Inspiration

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