The intersection of Water Street and Michigan Avenue hosted a flour mill from 1829 until at least 1895.

Water Street is (or was) a short street in Ypsilanti that runs south from Michigan Avenue, just east of the Huron River bridge. In the 1800s, its location - adjacent to downtown and at river level - allowed it to host some of Ypsilanti's milling activity. A flouring mill was located at the intersection of Water and Michigan throughout the century, including a rail spur serving the mill by 1895.

By the late 1900s, though, its fortunes had waned: by the end of the 1970s, the properties on Water Street had been identified as a target for redevelopment by the city. This evolved into the Water Street Redevelopment Project - though it now encompasses a substantially larger area than just Water Street itself, the name reflects the projects origins.

Water Street no longer legally exists: the plats for the redevelopment area were vacated in the late 2000s, erasing lot and street lines. The street's entrance onto Michigan Avenue still exists, now serving a temporary gravel parking lot used by fishermen and people accessing the section of the B2B Trail that runs along the edge of the river.