History
Ann Arbor's city parks sit on the ancestral and traditional homelands of several indigenous Native peoples. Read a
land acknowledgement from the city and learn more about the early history of the land
here.
The park was purchased in 2007 from Jan Onder, a local businesswoman and member of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission. It had been appraised in 2005 for $480,000. Onder was a widow of Ned Shure, who ran a student bookstore in Ypsilanti and owned a popular children’s store called Generations on Main Street for many years. She and Shure owned the property together from 1992 until his death in 2001, after which it was transferred into her name. At that time, it was part of Ann Arbor Township. Before the purchase was finalized, a long discussion was held as to who was responsible for cleaning all the trash from the park. Eventually a deal was made. Today, the park, now part of the City of Ann Arbor, is surrounded by housing and was part of the Hillwood Subdivision No.4 which was developed in 1955.
View a Natural Area Preservation (NAP) newsletter highlighting Onder Nature Area: 2007 Park Focus: The Onder Property by Billy Kirst.