Quick Facts

NPS Description

110 South Main Street. Dusenbury Bank, 1888. 

Contributing 

Description

Commercial Late Victorian two-story brick retail/mixed use building. The upper façade is of brick covered in stucco and capped by a decorative metal cornice with arched denticulation beneath and corner blocks, one capped by a dome-like finial. Two decorative slant-sided, metal-trimmed oriel windows topped by finials flank two center wood windows with arched hoods and starburst transoms. A stone string course runs the length of the façade level with the spring lines of the starburst transoms on the second-floor center windows. A metal cornice with decorative corner blocks separates the first and second floor. The storefront is of a newer red brick with wood and glass arched window replacements to the north and aluminum and glass display window and recessed entry to the south. The entry and display window to the south are covered by a projecting fabric awning. 

The west (rear) elevation is of painted brick. Vinyl replacement windows on the second floor with boarded up arched windows and transom are over the back entrance. No other elevation is visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

This building was constructed in 1888 for the Dusenbury (Exchange) Bank, predecessor of the Exchange State Savings Bank. Founded as a private bank in 1881, the Dusenbury changed its name to the Exchange State Savings Bank in 1888 and moved into the south storefront of this building. The north side was occupied at that time by P. Corey Taylor’s drug and jewelry shop, and in the 1890s the express office, and later telephone exchange, was also located in the north half. The Exchange Bank incorporated in 1894 and then moved to the newly constructed bank building at the southeast corner of Broadway and Main around 1909. P. Corey Taylor moved out of the building in 1903, replaced by the Minto-Woodruff clothing, shoe, and furniture store. That firm, later known as Minto-Boulton and Boulton’s Clothing store, remained in business until the 1950s; the Woodruff name also remained associated with the building, with the Woodruff, later United, Insurance Agency occupying the building in the 1950s and 60s. The Butts Drug Store occupied one of the storefronts until the 1950s, succeeded for a time by Palmer Drug. They were replaced by Western Auto Associates (late 1950s-early 1960s), Hall House of Gifts (early 1970s) and the Black Box (ca. 1976-1983). The north half of the building housed the Christian Book Store in the late 1970s, and then in the 1980s and 90s, Downtown Discount and Drugs expanded into this storefront. FirstBank now occupies this building as well as the building to the north. *as of 2014

Integrity Analysis 

The building has retained a certain degree of integrity throughout its existence. The building’s decorative features, including its oriel windows, second-story trim, and cornice, remain in place. The storefronts, originally the traditional center entry with cast iron columns, large glass windows, and multi-paned transoms, have been altered several times over the twentieth century. Mid-century aluminum and glass storefronts were replaced in 1969, and have been succeeded by infilled brick that matches the newer storefronts at the adjoining storefront at 100-104 East Broadway. The brick on the second floor has been recently covered with stucco. At the interior, there was reference to a fire in July of 1986 that “gutted” the “mostly vacant” building, although it is unclear the extent of the damage. The interior was connected to 102 S. Main in 2001. 

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.