Quick Facts

NPS Description

116 West Michigan, ca. 1940 

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

Description

One-story commercial building with a flat roof. The south (main) façade is clad in light grey EIFS. The upper wall has a projecting EIFS panel decorated with three downward-pointing triangle cut-outs. The storefront consists of a recessed center entry with an aluminum and glass door and side panel with a triangular transom window above. Flanking the entry door are tripartite aluminum and glass windows with a triangular transom window above. 

The east and west elevations are concealed by the adjoining buildings, but a small portion of brick wall is exposed on the east elevation. There are two additions; one is a small rectangular concrete block addition; the other is also constructed of concrete block and extends along the back of this building and 118 West Broadway next door. This addition retains two 12-paned steel windows, one on the east side and one on the north, but two other window openings have been partially infilled and replaced with sliding aluminum replacement windows. Small two-paned transom windows above each of the historic window openings remain in place but have been painted over. Three former door openings on the addition (one on the east and two on the north) have been infilled and a smaller steel replacement door installed in one. 

History 

This building is at least the third on this site. The 1884, 1890 and 1895 Sanborn maps show a small two-story frame building on this site, serving first as a tin shop and then as storage. In 1900 the lot is empty, and by 1910 a one story harness shop had been constructed. By 1924 it was listed on the Sanborns as a store. It had a number of short-term occupants in the 1920s, including Albar’s Electrical Service, the Mt. Pleasant Body Shop, and the Samaritan Army. Between the 1931 and 1950 Sanborn maps, it appears that building was replaced with a slightly wider one-story building with the two concrete block additions currently visible in place. This building may have been built for Kirkey Electric, which occupied the address from 1939 until they moved to South Main Street in 1950. It was then a dry cleaning business, first as Maxim Cleaners (1950s-1968) and then City Cleaners (1970-1980). In the mid-1980s, it was briefly occupied by Trost Heating and Air Condition and the Detroit News. After that, the address disappeared from the city directories. It is currently occupied by Level 7 Hair Studio. *as of 2014

Integrity Analysis 

No historic photographs were found of this building. The exposed brick wall at the east elevation suggests that it was likely a brick building but no details of its original appearance remain. The EIFS covering on the south elevation obscures any historic fabric. 

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.