Selected repository locations for present-day orientation. Numbers match the research stops below. Select a marker to open its stop. Locations are approximate, not entrances or driving directions. Grouped numbers identify nearby repositories; use the address key for individual locations.
Several stops can lead to the same repository. Maps show selected verified locations, not every guide stop or every community represented in the records. Use each stop’s access instructions, including for online and out-of-county collections. Check access before traveling.
Stop 1: Bentley Historical Library 1150 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113
Local to Washtenaw County; research account required, appointments recommended.
County outlines: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic boundaries ↗. Selected major roads: 2024 TIGER/Line primary and secondary roads ↗. Public repository addresses checked against the sources above, with approximate Census geocoder positions. Rentschler Farm uses the linked published landmark coordinate; the Port Huron library position uses OpenStreetMap, linked in its key. Historical boundaries, township lines and current traffic conditions are not shown. Prepared November 1, 2026.
Collection and access sources reviewed 2026-11-02. These are selected research routes, not complete county holdings or completed name-level searches.
RESEARCH STOP 01
School districts beyond the university
Collection details
Previously cataloged school holdings include Ann Arbor Public Schools records, 1833–1994 (bulk 1838–1976), including Board of Education minutes and agenda exhibits, 1939–1994, and local school material for Pittsfield, Ann Arbor, Webster, Scio and Superior townships. The Ann Arbor school records include school desegregation and race-relations files, 1965–1969. Search the named district and record series, not only a student surname.
What to confirm
The older subject guide is no longer supported. Treat the dates above as previously cataloged leads and confirm them in the current collection finding aid, including restrictions, before requesting materials.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Ypsilanti city, township and school evidence
Collection details
The archives inventory includes civil and criminal dockets, tax assessment rolls, Ypsilanti government, city and township material, and school yearbooks. Its digital archive includes local newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks and assorted scanned documents.
What to confirm
The database describes files and collections, not every document within them. It is not a comprehensive name index. Category labels alone establish neither surviving dates nor that an item is digitized.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Local recollections and photographs as leads
Collection details
Ypsilanti Gleanings brings together local-history articles and reminiscences. The society provides digitized issues, a bibliography and a photo-archive route. These can suggest a school, business, street or person to pursue in original records. The society also links a digital photograph collection with images dating from the 1850s onward; read each item’s own description and date.
What to confirm
A reminiscence is not independent confirmation of every event it describes. Verify names and dates against contemporary records; OCR may miss names.
RESEARCH STOP 04
Ypsilanti buildings and streets: ask for the plan by its archive location
Collection details
The public Collections database identifies a 1929 Daniel Quirk Jr. House plan for 206 North Huron Street (TS 036), 1963 Clark Road Elementary School plans (TS 020,021), and 1926 Henry Ford textile-development plans (C2 D3 L1). These are concrete routes for a house, school or workplace question when a surname search is unproductive.
What to confirm
A plan is evidence of a design or proposal, not proof that it was built as drawn, that a person attended the school, or that an ancestor worked there. The spreadsheet contains descriptive records rather than scans of every item.
RESEARCH STOP 05
Sylvan Township birth and death registers: browse the book after the name search
Collection details
The library presents an explicitly incomplete selection of Sylvan Township birth and death registers spanning August 1897 to April 1937. Listed birth books include January 1, 1906–December 17, 1908 and March 7, 1920–December 28, 1922; the death books include August 30, 1897–December 18, 1900 and June 24, 1931–April 24, 1937. Intermediate books and overlapping intervals are listed separately.
What to confirm
Do not turn the overall 1897–1937 span into continuous coverage. The library warns that it cannot verify all information in the registers. Check the image and compare the informant, dates and relationships against other evidence.
RESEARCH STOP 06
Chelsea Family History Index: from an obituary card to the newspaper
Collection details
The Family History Index describes more than 15,500 entries for Chelsea residents and some surrounding communities, with coverage reaching back to the early nineteenth century. Fields may include parents, spouses, children, burial and funeral information, the obituary date and an obituary image when available. Its roots include Harold A. Jones’s cemetery transcriptions and obituary-card work begun in the 1950s.
What to confirm
The historical reach of the index is not proof of complete population or death coverage. Family relationships in an obituary or compiled card remain claims to assess, not independently established facts.
RESEARCH STOP 07
One-room school memories: identify the school before seeking a register
Collection details
The 2008 One Room Schoolhouse Project records oral-history-style interviews about western Washtenaw County schools. The official page lists participating people and schools, including Lima Center, North Lake, Rogers Corners, Sylvan Townhall and Waterloo. Use it to develop a school name, teacher or neighborhood lead beyond a countywide search.
What to confirm
2008 is the documentary’s creation date, not a range of pupil records. Recollections can suggest where to search but do not substitute for enrollment, attendance or school-census records. The project page does not claim that those registers survive.
RESEARCH STOP 08
Saline local-history files by appointment
Collection details
The society provides a reference collection of local-history books and files at Rentschler Farm Museum. This is a distinct research route from viewing the Depot Museum exhibits, useful for a focused Saline-area household, farm or community question.
What to confirm
No dated item inventory is provided on the reviewed page. Confirm holdings, dates and reproduction arrangements before traveling. Museum opening hours should not be treated as guaranteed archival-research availability.
Prepare one focused request
Give the repository the locality, year, collection and specific question. Ask about the relevant volume or folder, gaps, access restrictions and copying costs. Save the citation and record what you searched, including searches with no result.
Use these dated holdings to choose a next search. This is a selection of cataloged collections, not a complete inventory of Washtenaw County records.
A range is a lead, not a guarantee. Bars show the dates stated by the cited catalog or inventory. They do not establish uninterrupted coverage, complete reporting or online image access. Unmarked years mean not represented in this selection, not that records were destroyed. Indexes and abstracts still need to be followed to the underlying record.
Additional collections reviewed November 1, 2026; earlier baseline sources reviewed October 26, 2026. Blue shows cataloged holdings; rust identifies indexes or compiled publications where the source specifies them. Read the format label and access notes for each row.
180018501900195020002026
Listed record-series span
Ann Arbor Board of Education minutes and agenda exhibits
Listed years: 1939–1994.
Source, access and coverage limits
Use Bentley’s current finding-aids database to search Ann Arbor Public Schools and the named township; the older subject guide is no longer maintained. Search by school or township and record the box, volume and date. Bentley is free and open to the public; a research account allows advance material requests. Appointments are recommended, not required. The reading room is at 1150 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor; consult the current visit page for hours and holiday closures.
Keep in mind: The older subject guide is no longer supported. Treat the dates above as previously cataloged leads and confirm them in the current collection finding aid, including restrictions, before requesting materials.
Daniel Quirk Jr. House plan, 206 North Huron Street
Listed years: 1929.
Source, access and coverage limits
Open the Collections spreadsheet from the Master Database page and search the building or street. Send the exact description, year and location code to yhs.archives@gmail.com. Ask whether staff can supply a research image or arrange access to the large-format original.
Keep in mind: A plan is evidence of a design or proposal, not proof that it was built as drawn, that a person attended the school, or that an ancestor worked there. The spreadsheet contains descriptive records rather than scans of every item.
Open the Collections spreadsheet from the Master Database page and search the building or street. Send the exact description, year and location code to yhs.archives@gmail.com. Ask whether staff can supply a research image or arrange access to the large-format original.
Keep in mind: A plan is evidence of a design or proposal, not proof that it was built as drawn, that a person attended the school, or that an ancestor worked there. The spreadsheet contains descriptive records rather than scans of every item.
Open the Collections spreadsheet from the Master Database page and search the building or street. Send the exact description, year and location code to yhs.archives@gmail.com. Ask whether staff can supply a research image or arrange access to the large-format original.
Keep in mind: A plan is evidence of a design or proposal, not proof that it was built as drawn, that a person attended the school, or that an ancestor worked there. The spreadsheet contains descriptive records rather than scans of every item.
Use the online birth or death search, then open the corresponding register book from the same page. Save the book’s date label, page and original entry rather than relying only on its transcription. For assistance, use the library’s Local History Request Form or call 734-475-8732, extension 219.
Keep in mind: Do not turn the overall 1897–1937 span into continuous coverage. The library warns that it cannot verify all information in the registers. Check the image and compare the informant, dates and relationships against other evidence.
Selected confirmed books only: January 1, 1906–December 17, 1908 and March 7, 1920–December 28, 1922. Matching uses calendar years; check the exact event date. Other books exist but are not represented by this selection.
Use the online birth or death search, then open the corresponding register book from the same page. Save the book’s date label, page and original entry rather than relying only on its transcription. For assistance, use the library’s Local History Request Form or call 734-475-8732, extension 219.
Keep in mind: Do not turn the overall 1897–1937 span into continuous coverage. The library warns that it cannot verify all information in the registers. Check the image and compare the informant, dates and relationships against other evidence.
Selected confirmed books only: August 30, 1897–December 18, 1900 and June 24, 1931–April 24, 1937. Matching uses calendar years; check the exact event date. Do not bridge the unrepresented years.
Confirm the historical jurisdiction as well as the date. A record may be held outside today’s county, and an inventory’s ending year does not mean recordkeeping stopped.
Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.