Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan
township in Washtenaw County, Michigan
Ypsilanti Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 55,670 at the 2020 census. The city of Ypsilanti is mostly surrounded by the township, but the two are administered autonomously.
Communities
Eastlawn is an unincorporated community located within the township just east of the city limits of Ypsilanti near the junction of U.S. Route 12 and Interstate 94 at 42°14′08″N 83°35′17″W.
Rawsonville is an unincorporated community located along the eastern border of the township at 42°12′55″N 83°33′06″W. The community is located along the Huron River and Belleville Lake and also extends to the east in Van Buren Township in Wayne County.
Willow Run is an unincorporated community located within the township at 42°15′26″N 83°34′28″W. It was named after the Willow Run, which is a small stream and tributary of the Huron River. It is the site of Willow Run Airport. In 1943, the federal government constructed a bomber plant, which was operated by Henry Ford during World War II. A community named Willow Village was constructed to house the workers of the facility and their families, and it was also given a post office until the bomber plant closed on June 30, 1945.
Woodgruff's Grove is a former community that was settled in 1823 by Ohio native Benjamin Woodruff. A post office operated in Woodgruff's Grove from May 9, 1825, to January 28, 1828. At the time, the community was administratively part of Wayne County when Ypsilanti Township was created in 1827.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan” is township in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ypsilanti, Charter and Township, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “township in Washtenaw County, Michigan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1931451. VIAF identifies the subject as 3465157527290927300008. The Library of Congress control number is no2019174928. Authority coordinates are 42.229, -83.592. 2 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1943, 1945 and 1823.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan primary sources, Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan archive and Ypsilanti research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.