Quick Facts

NPS Description

107-109 East Broadway Street, ca. 1900s. 

Non-contributing (built within the period of significance but subsequent alterations have sufficiently impacted integrity to render it non-contributing) 

Description

Two-story brick retail/mixed use building faced with white painted EIFS. Framed horizontal panels with evenly spaced circular buttons on square plates edge the top and bottom of the second floor’s groups of vinyl double-hung replacement windows with transoms. Two story piers frame the east and west edge of the building. Fixed windows with transoms are to the west of the storefront on the first floor. The storefront is white painted EIFS with a framed address above the recessed entry. Metal windows with matching button design above and below are to the east of the double door with diamond light transom in the recessed entry. 

The north (rear) elevation is brick covered in horizontal vinyl siding with aluminum and glass back entry and replacement windows. The east (side) elevation is white painted brick. The west (side) exterior elevation is not visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

The earliest buildings on this double lot were also destroyed in the Mt. Pleasant fire of 1875. Following that, 2 separate two-story frame buildings were constructed on the site. In the first few years of the 1900s, they were replaced by this brick double lot-width building, two stories (30 feet) high. In 1910, the west half housed a boots and shoes store while the east side was a clothing store. For a few years in the late 1920s, the firm of Kane and Kane occupied both storefronts. From 1930 to 1962, the Miller-Jones Company occupied the west half (107). A variety of tenants followed in the 1960s, with another long term tenant, the Jean House, occupying the building from 1972 to 1983. The 107 address disappeared in the later 1980s and early 1990s. 109 East Broadway experienced more frequent turnover. Tenants included The Mode Shop (1932-33), Surplus Auto Parts (1934), Mark’s Stores (1936-42), Ken’s Men’s Shop (late 1940s-mid 1950s), Daniel’s Jewelry (1958-63), Zales Jewelry (1966), Evert’s Jewelry (1968-ca. 1990s), and King Food Inc. (late 1990s). 

Integrity Analysis 

The building’s original upper façade had two large arches with three rectangular windows within each arch. Above that was a large cornice with a projecting gabled projection above the parapet. The storefront appeared to have two recessed entries flanked by wood and glass windows, topped by a frieze and cornice. By the 1940s, the cornice had been removed and the parapet cut down, removing the tops of the arches. The windows appeared to remain in their original configuration/units, but the storefronts had been altered. The upper façade was painted white in images from the 1950s and 60s. A 1982 photograph of the Evert’s Jewelers storefront shows that it had been altered to create one storefront rather than two separate ones; the west (107) openings were altered to three windows, while a recessed entry was created at 109. The brick piers and columns separating the windows at the second floor remained exposed, but the recessed areas were covered with EIFS. A new frieze and cornice was installed above the storefront. The current exterior, installed after 1993, retains the fenestration and entry pattern, but removed the frieze and cornice and covered the entire building with EIFS. The parapet was raised back to match those of the adjoining buildings. 

Sources 

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Mt. Pleasant: 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1910, 1924, 1931, 1950); Mt. Pleasant City Directories, 1925-1998; Past and Present of Isabella County, 1911; City of Mt. Pleasant Building Permits; historic photographs.