Quick Facts

NPS Description

118 East Broadway Street. Chatterton Block, 1902. 

Contributing 

Description

Commercial Late Victorian two-and-a-half-story retail/mixed use building (1902). The East Broadway Street frontage of 22 feet has a red brick upper façade with classical inspired piers, including bases, that frame the window bays. Two rows of denticulated corbelling between the piers rest beneath the ornamental metal cornice. The cornice has large brackets, denticulation, and a decorative frieze board with the year of construction in the center and Adamesque swag reliefs. The brackets flanking the year of construction rise above the cornice to enclose the name block inscribed with Chatterton Block. Original double-hung wood windows with stone sills are below the cornice on the half story. On the second floor are the original double-hung wood windows with rectangular transoms. The ca. 1960s storefront has a large, angled glass and aluminum display window with a smaller rectangular projecting display window to the west side of the glass and aluminum entry door. Stone veneer outlines the storefront to either side of and below the display windows. The storefront transom panel is covered with wood paneling with a simple cornice above and a shallow metal canopy below. A recessed entry leads into the first floor with a stepped entry to a wood and glass side door, with transom, leading to the upper floors. 

The south (rear) elevation is of painted brick with segmental arch-head windows and original arched transom over a replacement door and sidelights. No other exterior elevation is visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

One of the most historically intact buildings in the downtown district, the Chatterton Block was constructed in 1902. One of the earliest tenants was the Breidenstein and Kane hardware store, which remained in the building until around 1912. After that, it housed a restaurant on the first floor; for about 30 years (late 1920s to late 1950s), this was the Olympia Café and Candy Works, and for those years the building was listed as the “Olympia Building” in city directories. The 1931 Sanborn map indicates there was a dance hall on the second floor, and city directories list a number of professional and business tenants in the upper stories from the 1930s to 1960s. Other long term tenants include Ken’s Men’s Shop (1960-1978), Mt. Pleasant Memorial Gardens (1960s), The Treadmark shoe store (1970s-80s) and Lee’s Bridal and Tuxedo Shop (1980s 90s). The current tenant is Simply Engraving. 

Integrity Analysis 

The Chatterton Block is remarkably intact. Above the first floor, it retains its original façade, including decorative brickwork, original wood double-hung windows with transoms, and the decorative metal cornice with the name and date blocks. The only significant alterations have been to the storefront. Historic photographs show a recessed metal and plate glass storefront, possibly carried on metal columns. By the 1950s, this had been covered with sheeting, possibly aluminum. In the 1960s or 70s, this was replaced with a glass and aluminum storefront with stone veneer trim around the openings and a wood panel frieze board above. This remains the current configuration. 

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.