Quick Facts

Long before its modern downtown layout, this site held a freestanding, one-story wooden farm equipment store in the late 1800s, which was eventually cleared away to leave an empty lot for nearly three decades 

The yellow brick structure was constructed in 1939 to house the Thayer Brothers Dairy, matching the commercial expansion boom that transformed this historically residential block just before World War II. 

For nearly thirty years spanning the late 1940s through the 1970s, the property operated as a rotating lineup of popular local eateries, including Super Hamburgers, Jack’s Snack Bar, and the Country Kitchen. 

After shifting away from food service to host a photography studio, early computer store, and clothing boutique, the building eventually transitioned into Central Tees screen printing and sign shop. 

NPS Description

208 South Main Street. Thayer Brothers Dairy, 1939. 

Contributing 

Description

Commercial Brick two story retail/mixed use building with a 22 foot frontage on South Main Street. The upper façade is of yellow brick with decorative brickwork panel in the frieze, a very shallow brick gable parapet, and three bays of vinyl double-hung replacement windows. The storefront has wood paneling with an aluminum and glass display window in the center flanked by two doors. The north end door is recessed. 

The north (side) elevation is of yellow brick with a three stepped parapet sloping down from east to west. The north (rear) elevation is of brick covered in wood siding on the second floor. A one-story painted concrete block addition with a twelve light steel window is attached to the north elevation and has an asphalt shed roof. No other elevation is visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

The 200 block on the west side of Main Street developed as a commercial block much later than the blocks to the north and east. It was originally a residential block, with two dwellings present in the late 1800s at the north and south ends of the block. From the 1890s to the early 1900s, there was a one story frame agricultural implements store in this location, set back from the street. By 1910 this building had been removed and the lot was empty until 1939, when this building, initially the Thayer Brothers Dairy, was constructed. Thayer Bros. occupied the space until 1948, when it was briefly Super Hamburgers and then Jack’s Snack Bar in the 1950s and early 1960s. It continued as a restaurant into the 1970s, including the Country Kitchen (ca. mid 1960s-1976), and the Lighthouse in the late 1970s. In the 1980s it changed use, first to Ron’s Photography and then later as Resicom Computers in the late 1980s. It was then Good Vibrations clothing shop in the 1990s and is currently Central Tees, a screen printing and sign shop. *as of 2014

Integrity Analysis 

Like its contemporary at 206 South Main, this building also retains its general characteristics, including the brick exterior with decorative brick frieze panel and the general storefront arrangement. The three second-floor windows were originally paired six-light steel casements with four-light transoms above; these have been replaced with non-matching vinyl windows. The storefront arrangement, with a large central window flanked by two entries, is similar to the original. The original central window was a divided plate glass window with a divided light transom above. This has been replaced with an aluminum window with applied muntins. The original frieze panel above the storefront is wider and covers the original transom. The two flanking entry doors are replacements. 

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.