Quick Facts

Constructed in the 1920s as a one-story masonry office, this building served for 25 years as the law office of Joseph Schnitzler, a prominent local attorney who helped found the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club. 

Alongside law practices, the storefront hosted several long-term professional agencies, including Durfee Realty, the Stinson Agency, Central Insurance Agency, and Valley Travel for over 15 years. 

While 1980s remodels capped the front with a heavy shingled awning, later work removed the wood shingles to re-expose the original brown brick wall, leaving behind furring strips and an altered fenestration pattern. 

NPS Description

119 South University Street, ca. 1920s. 

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

Description

One story Commercial Brick building, undergoing remodeling at the time of survey. The storefront is of brown brick with windows and entry paneled over with particle board. A replacement aluminum fixed window is centered over the original entry. 

The west (rear) elevation is a one story detached shed covered in particle board with a three pane fixed aluminum replacement window and two side entries to the south. No other elevation is visible due to adjoining buildings. The interior is being remodeled but plaster is visible under the new drywall installation. 

History 

This building appeared on the 1924 Sanborn map as a one-story masonry office building, replacing a one-story frame tailor shop that had stood here from the 1880s. It was listed as the office of Joseph Schnitzler, attorney, from 1925 until 1950; Schnitzler, who was instrumental in founding the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club, died in 1951. It also housed the Durfee Realty Company from 1936 to 1950, the Stinson Agency, 1947-62, and Hunter, Whittier, and Solber, 1968-1971. Valley Travel occupied the storefront from 1971 to 1987. Other tenants included Lyon Real Estate, 1972-81, Central Insurance Agency, 1976-ca. 1990s, and Modern Management Association, 1983-ca. 1990s, as well as a number of short-term doctors and attorneys. 

Integrity Analysis 

No historic photographs of the building were found, but the original front appeared to be a plain brown brick with a center entry and windows to either side. A 1980s image shows the brick storefront, window, and two aluminum and glass doors; the storefront is surmounted with a projecting shingled awning and the wall above that is also covered with shingles. At the time of survey, the exterior brick had been re-exposed, with furring strips from the awning still visible and the front entry and windows boarded up. 

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.