Quick Facts

NPS Description

110-112 North Main Street, ca. 1900. 

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

Description

A one story brick retail/mixed use building. Modern painted vertical board siding covers the storefront on the west façade. A parapet also covered in modern painted vertical board siding with painted corner boards and cap trim extends above the west and north elevation. Under the parapet on the west façade is a pent roof awning with asphalt shingles and modern vertical board siding. The storefront has two recessed entries flanked by fixed display windows and painted trim. A different colored trim separates the two storefronts. 

The north (side) elevation is covered in modern painted vertical board siding with brackets under the parapet. The storefront wraps around the northwest corner with a fixed window and painted trim. A door with a small pent roof awning is in the middle of the north elevation. Another door next to a fixed window is covered by a fabric awning towards the northeast corner. The east (back) elevation is covered in modern painted vertical board siding with a pent roof awning at the southeast corner. The south (side) elevation is covered with modern painted vertical board siding. 

History 

Early plat and Sanborn maps show several small buildings located on this site as early as 1879; any earlier buildings on this site would have likely been consumed in the fire of 1875. The current one-story building was constructed right around 1900; an 1899 plat map shows two different buildings on this location while the 1900 Sanborn Map depicts the current building. It contained two commercial spaces for much of its history, with a grocery and a variety story being the first occupants in 1900. The 1910 Sanborn map shows it as a single interior space designated as “Rackets,” but by 1924 it was again two separate spaces. Throughout the 1930s the Oil Well Supply Company was located at the south storefront (110) while National Supply Company occupied 112. In the early 1940s, National Supply Company expanded into 110; it occupied both spaces to the end of the decade. In the 1950s, the Dumon and Wardrop Insurance Agency occupied 110 and the Bike and Lock Shop was in 112. Lent and Son Shoe Repair replaced the Bike and Lock Shop at 112 around 1960 and remained there until the late 1970s. Pisanello’s Pizza opened in 110 around 1964, and remains in that location today. In the 1980s and 1990s tenants at 112 included Tom’s Shoe Repair (1978-1987), Millie’s Tailor Shop (1978-late 1990s), and the Reava Sewing Center (1988-early 1990s). 

Integrity Analysis 

There are few historic photographs of this building extant. A photograph taken between the building’s construction in 1900 and 1904 shows a brick structure with a gabled roof and a parapet (false front) on the west elevation. Two storefronts are visible but details of the materials cannot be discerned. The back (east half) of the building is visible on a ca. 1906 aerial that confirms the gabled roof but little else. A 1952 photograph shows the north side of the building; the current parapet on that side is not in place, and the gabled roof with asphalt shingles is visible. The building is painted white; an obstruction in the photo prevents observation of the storefront conditions. The building is currently covered with non-historic vertical board siding. 

Sources 

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Mt. Pleasant: 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1910, 1924, 1931, 1950); Mt. Pleasant City Directories, 1925-1998; historic photographs.