Quick Facts

Unlike its neighboring properties, this structure is classified as non-contributing because extensive modern remodels have completely buried its original historic features under modern building materials. 

Built after the turn of the century as a two-story grocery, the location secured its place in downtown history under the Lynch Brothers banner from roughly 1910 until 1962. 

The building later housed the National Cash Register Company and a shoe store called the Cobblery, while the upper level transitioned into long-running student housing starting in the late 1970s. 

Vintage 1940s images reveal the building once boasted much taller second-story windows—potentially featuring historic arched hoods—that are now completely obscured by modern horizontal vinyl siding. 

NPS Description

225 South Main Street. Lynch Brothers, ca. 1910. 

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

Description

Two story retail/mixed use building with a 22 foot frontage on South Main Street. The upper façade is a gable front covered in horizontal vinyl siding. Double-hung vinyl replacement windows flanked by shutters make up the fenestration of the second floor. The red brick storefront has a recessed center entry with an aluminum and glass entry door flanked by double-hung vinyl windows. At the north side of the storefront is a recessed entry leading to the second floor. A projecting flat aluminum canopy stretches the length of the façade. 

The east (rear) elevation is of molded rusticated concrete block with a one-story gable addition covered in horizontal vinyl siding. A small deck with a staircase spans the one-story addition and leads to a back access to the apartment on the second floor. No other elevation is visible due to adjoining buildings. 

History 

225 South Main was built between 1900 and 1910 as a two-story grocery with a two-story concrete block section at the rear. The Lynch Brothers store occupied the building until 1962, succeeded by the National Cash Register Company until 1975 and the Cobblery from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The storefront is currently empty, but the upper floors have been student housing from the late 1970s to the present. 

Integrity Analysis 

Like the other buildings at this end of the block, there are few historic images available. A late 1940s image shows the present building with its gabled roof. The second-floor windows are much taller than the existing windows and may have been arched with hoods or trim above them. A windowed storefront with a flat transom and perhaps a retractable awning is also present. Currently, the original façade has been replaced, including the vinyl siding on the second floor, altered windows, brick storefront with vinyl windows, and the horizontal metal canopy. 

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.