Quick Facts

NPS Description

123 East Broadway Street, ca. 1939.  

Contributing 

Description

Commercial Brick two-story retail/mixed use building with a frontage of 22 feet on East Broadway Street. The second floor is of yellow brick with an aluminum Chicago style window and concrete sill. The storefront has wood and glass display windows with an aluminum and glass side door. A projecting fabric awning stretches the length of the storefront. The north (rear) elevation is of painted concrete block with a boarded up window on the second story. The east (side) elevation is painted concrete block. No other exterior elevation is visible due to the adjoining buildings. 

History 

This building was constructed in the late 1930s or early 1940s. The lot had previously been occupied by a small, one-story frame building that served as a grocery store and meat market from the 1880s into the 1930s. Foland Optical was at this location from 1939 to 1948 (given the time frame for construction, the building may have been built for Foland Optical in 1939). The site was once again occupied by a market in the 1950s (first McBride and Johnson, later Philo’s), then Marianne Fashion Center and Mr. Charlie’s Ladies Apparel from 1963 to 1983. It has been Trillium Fine Clothing since 1985. 

Integrity Analysis 

The building has always been simple in appearance, with a plain yellow brick exterior and no cornice. The second-story window appears to be either original or a replacement that matches the original configuration of a large center pane flanked by two smaller double-hung units. A very thin belt course of projecting brick above the window is the only decorative touch. It is unclear if any changes have been made to the storefront, but the current configuration, a recessed entry flanked by glass display windows with a side door to the upper floor, is characteristic of the period. 

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.