The Old West Side Association is a volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to conservation and improvement of the neighborhood encompassed by the “Old Second Ward” in Ann Arbor, Michigan (see Purpose). Chartered in 1967, it contains the largest and oldest historic district in Ann Arbor. The Old West Side Historic District, recognized in 1972 and contained within its boundaries (see map), was the only “streetscape” historic district in Ann Arbor, the first in the nation to receive this designation.

The Old West Side (OWS) is a mostly residential neighborhood bounded by:

• East: The Ann Arbor Railroad tracks on the northern portion, S. Main St. on the southern

• North: Northern side of W. Huron St.

• West: Western sides of Crest Ave. and Soule Blvd. on the northern portion; Seventh St. on the southern portion

• South: Southern side of Madison St. on the western portion; north of Pauline Blvd. on the eastern portion

While the neighborhood includes parks, schools, shops, small businesses, and some multi-family buildings, most of the OWS is made up of single-family homes on tree-lined streets. Historically, this collection of approximately two thousand households was sometimes referred to as "old German Town" or "Cabbage Town."

Most of the structures date from 1850 to 1925. Architecturally, they are of eclectic revival styles, display similar historic associations, and are positioned on their respective lots in a familiar pattern allowing a short front yard. Lot sizes are typically 66’ x 132’ or 40’ x 120’. Interspersed amongst these modest, older homes are blocks of newer homes and some low-rise multi-family structures built to meet housing demand as the neighborhood filled in following WWI and WWII.