[Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan]

Getting to and from the Big House in the mid-1930s.

This fantastic directional aid was published by the Detroit Automobile Club for use by fans of the Michigan Wolverines. The completion of the Big House (Michigan Stadium) in 1927 allowed over 70,000 spectators, many arriving in Ann Arbor by car, to watch the boys in Maize and Blue take the field.

One side of the guide highlights the primary routes into and out of town, with recommendations for parking and accessibility. Two examples include: “The best place to park your automobile is not close to the Stadium, but where you can leave Ann Arbor quickest by the road you desire to take.” “Park heading homeward on both sides of street.” The latter would have undoubtedly introduced some measure of chaos! Text also mentions special signs placed by the Detroit Automobile Club to help with route-finding.

The verso provides a large-scale plan of the primary athletic facilities on the campus of the University of Michigan, including a basic seating plan for the Stadium. Many of these facilities were introduced during the tenure of Athletic Director Fielding H. Yost. According to Bentley Historical Library,

“Along with his accomplishments as the head football coach, Yost served as Michigan’s Director of Athletics from 1921-41. For his leadership of the athletic department, Yost is viewed by many as the consummate pioneer and visionary of the field. Yost conceived and engineered today’s modem athletic campus in Ann Arbor. Among the projects constructed under Yost’s direction were Michigan Stadium, the university’s 18-hole golf course, the nation’s first Intramural Sports Building and the nation’s first multi-purpose field house-now known as Yost Ice Arena.”

The map was published sometime between 1928 (the completion of the Intramural Building) and 1941 (Yost’s retirement from the University of Michigan).

Sources: Bentley Library; University of Michigan Timeline;