Quick Facts

NPS Description

118 West Michigan, ca. 1920 

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

Description

Two-story brick mixed-use/retail building. The south and west elevations (facing the corner of West Michigan and South Washington) are clad in beige EIFS. The storefront on the south elevation has a recessed center entry with a wood and glass entry door and sunburst transom above. It is flanked by fixed single-pane windows topped by sunburst transom windows. The two upper floor windows are square-headed double-hung aluminum replacement units. Both first and second floor windows have arched window molds with keystones, all rendered in EIFS. 

The west elevation is also clad in EIFS. It has four windows on the first floor and five on the second; all are double-hung aluminum replacement windows and have EIFS arched window molds with keystones. There are also two small square window openings with two-paned sash in between windows on the second floor. A steel entry door is located in a partially infilled opening at the north end of the west elevation; next to that is a recessed entry door for the second floor which retains a glass transom window above. 

The first floor of the east and north elevations are concealed; the second floor is painted brick. A concrete block addition extends along the back of this building and 116 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 lot had a one-story frame blacksmith shop from the 1880s to approximately 1910. Sometime between 1910 and 1924, this was replaced by the present two-story brick building; the 1924 Sanborn map shows it as an auto repair shop with a concrete floor and a tile wall on the north elevation.The 1925-26 city directory lists “Swain’s Auto Repair” at 120 West Michigan, but as this was the last building on the block, it likely is just a variation in the numbering (120 West Michigan never appears on the Sanborn maps). In the 1930’s it was Pete’s Auto Shop, then the Donohue Grocery from 1939 to 1944. The Central Michigan Potato Chip Company had its factory here from 1945 to 1950. After a number of years as Cole’s Wash-o-Mat (1958-1963), the building was frequently listed as vacant or absent from the city directories, with only a few scattered entries (e.g. Hospitality Corner, 1975 and Ad America, 1980). LDM Rental Gowns occupied the building briefly in the 1990s. The current tenant is Total Investment Planners PLLC. *as of 2014

Integrity Analysis 

As with 116 West Michigan, no historic photographs have been found to determine the original appearance of the building. The brick wall on the east elevation suggests that the south and west elevations must have also been brick and the current fenestration pattern on those elevations is not inconsistent with the era. However, the current EIFS façade has diminished the building’s integrity. 

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.