Quick Facts

• Built in 1925 for the Francisco Photography Studio. It remained in business until 1976.

Historic Businesses

• Francisco Studio (1925-1976)

• Roethlisberger Realty (1978-Late 1990's)

NPS Description

203-205 West Broadway, Francisco Studio, 1925. 

Contributing 

Description

One-story brick retail building. The north façade facing West Broadway street is white-painted brick with a soldier course of brick in the frieze above the storefront. The storefront is replacement buff brick. It has a double center entry opening into two separate retail spaces. The doors and display windows have wood trim, and the transoms over the door have been infilled. The transom panel is drywalled over and covered with a fabric canopy. There is a small vent panel in the brick above the canopy. 

The rear (south) elevation is covered in wood paneling and has a steel replacement entry door. The east and west elevations are not visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

As Mt. Pleasant expanded, the area around the 200 West Broadway block became something of a transitional zone, both in topography and in use. The 1884 Sanborn map notes that a bluff edge ran through this block and then to the southwest, which may explain why the north/south alley in the center of the block was not extended to Broadway until the early 1900s. The areas to the north and west of the block were primarily industrial, and in the late 1880s and 1890s, there were a few scattered residential dwellings on the block. Between 1900 and 1910, a small one-story wood framed photo shop was constructed at the northeast corner of West Broadway and South Washington. The was likely the first home of the Francisco Studio, which was operated by father and son Harry H. and Harrison Francisco for approximately 70 years (dates vary, but the business was founded between 1905 and 1910; Harrison Francisco retired in 1973 and 1976 is the last date the Francisco studio appears in the city directories).9 In 1911, the Smithers building was constructed at the southwest corner of Broadway and Washington. At the time, it encompassed addresses 201 and 203, and the space currently occupied by what is now 203-205 West Broadway was historically numbered 205 West Broadway. From 1910 to the early 1920s, a smaller one story building sat on 205 West Broadway, housing the Francisco photo studio. The building was replaced by a larger one-story building in 1925.10 The Francisco Photo Studio closed in 1976. Following that, it was the office of Roethlisberger Realty from 1978 into the late 1990s. That business had been founded in the 1940s by Henry Roethlisberger and was later carried on by his son Dale. 

Integrity Analysis 

This building appears to have changed little since its original construction, with the exception of a replacement storefront. The circa 1950s image of the Smithers Building next door shows a corner of this building; the original storefront appears to be a center entry with wood trim, paneling and transom. A portion of the “Francisco Studio” signage is also visible above the transom panel. It is not clear when the storefront was altered, but the materials and design are consistent with the 1970s and may have occurred when Roethlisberger Realty took over the store. 

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. 

9 Marian Matyn, “Finding Aid for Francisco Photography Studio Photographic Collection,” Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Downloaded from http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clarke/ehll--francisco?view=text. 

10  “City Experiences Best Building Boom since 1923,” Isabella County Enterprise, July 10, 1925, p. 1.