UNION BLOCK
208-210 South Bridge Street

1877 Commercial Italianate
Home Tour 2000

The decade of the 1870’s was an exciting period of growth and development in the village of Grand Ledge.  The railroad had arrived in 1869. The first village president was elected in 1871. A new iron bridge replaced the old wooden bridge across the Grand River. Schools and churches were built throughout that decade.  And the business district underwent tremendous changes throughout the next ten years as the outlying farm areas became more settled and the business area developed to meet the needs of the increasing population.

The Union Block, as it has been known since it was built in 1877, was built after a devastating fire wiped out the half of the 200 block of South Bridge Street on the west side.  Some of the buildings that were burned out were the old wooden frame structures; one of the most devastating losses was the Goodrich Block, a large three-story landmark building seen in the old photos of Grand Ledge.

 The Grand Ledge Independent of December 8, 1876 described the fire:  “ Between the hours of twelve and one o’clock last Saturday night a terrible conflagration broke out in our village, and raged terribly till after daylight.  The flames were first discovered by Jas. G. Culver, in the south store of the Goodrich Block, which has been occupied by George Coryell, grocer.  The alarm was at once given, and our citizens were aroused from their beds to witness nearly one-fourth of the business portion of the village consumed by the fiery element…The Bean fire engine, recently purchased, was soon out, but a portion of hose had been allowed to freeze up, the engine having been taken out for practice Saturday afternoon, was absolutely useless and instead of assisting in extinguishing the flames was a hindrance….”  Michael McMullen, the furniture dealer, lost the best pieces of his furniture stock which he had stored in the Goodrich building.  Mr. McMullen was hit twice by the fire: he also owned the next building to the south of the Goorich Block, which was occupied by Armon Hixson’s grocery store.  The Hixson grocery burned while people frantically tried to remove the goods from the store.  One man, Benny Smith, lost his life when he was trapped by fire in the building. The unfortunate Mr. McMullen was able to save very little of his furniture stock, and he carried no insurance on either his merchandise or his buildings.

The terrible fire led to a period of rebuilding in town.  Michael McMullen joined forces with Jonathon Smith Holmes, another local businessman, and they began to build a new building on the site of the burned stores.  (Indy Feb. 23, 1877) “M. McMullen and J.S. Holmes commenced excavating for the cellars to their new buildings last Tuesday.”  In another article in the same issue of the paper, the article described the design of the new building:  “…the side and back walls of their new block (are) of Grand Ledge stone, the front to be of brick.  The front of the second story of their buildings will be done off for offices, the remaining portion of the second story to be finished off for a hall, which is greatly needed…”  The Masons, Oddfellows, and Grangers lost their meeting hall when the Goodrich Block burned.  The newspaper kept the locals posted on the progress of the construction project: (April 13, 1877) work was resuming on the cellars of the buildings…(Aug. 3, 1877) The iron roof was put on Holmes and McMullen’s block that particular week…(Aug. 10, 1877) Holmes and McMullen were plastering their building…And finally, the building was completed:  (Sept. 28, 1877) “Postmaster Holmes removed the (post)office into his new brick block on Monday last.  The (mail)boxes are very conveniently arranged, both for the accomodation of the P.M. and clerks and the public.  We now have as good an office as there is in the county, and as near fire and burglar proof as could be expected.”  Michael McMullen apparently was not able to fully recover from the fire, and in May of 1877 he sold his furniture stock to Willard West. 

Michael McMullen was a long-time businessman in early Grand Ledge.  He was born in New York state and came to Michigan as a child.  His parents settled on a farm in Oneida Township next to the Strange family.  He opened a grocery store in town in 1864.  In 1868 he sold out his grocery stock and opened a furniture and undertaking business.  His was the first furniture store in town, and he was also the first undertaker.  He spent his later years in Sheridan Michigan where he was in the telephone business until 1923, when he moved to Detroit.  He died in Detroit in April 1924 at the age of eighty-five, and his remains were brought back to Grand Ledge and buried near his wife in Oakwood Cemetery. 

Jonathon Holmes also came from a pioneer family.  He was born in Clermont County Ohio April 27, 1843.  He came to Michigan with his parents as a very young child.  His family spent some time farming in Oakland County.  He enlisted in the army during the Civil War.  He served with the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics Corps.  When he finished his military service, he came to Grand Ledge where he went to work as a clerk for Benjamin T. Esler, who had a dry goods store. Esler was also his brother-in-law.  He worked in Esler’s store for five years.  In March 1867, Holmes married Mary Davis and they had two sons.  In September 1870 he opened his own grocery store. In April 1871 he was elected Township Clerk and in 1872 he was appointed Postmaster, which office he held for twenty-four years. In 1873 he sold his grocery stock to J.B. Cook and opened a stationery and bookstore in the post office.  He sold his store to Rev. B.S. Pratt in 1884 and devoted his attentions to his duties as Postmaster and Express Agent.  In the 1890’s he built two more brick buildings on the east side of  South Bridge Street, and he moved his business and the post office across the street to those buildings.

Although McMullen and Holmes built the Union Block as a joint venture, the two stores it contained were separately owned and operated.  The Sanborn Insurance maps show that the original address of was  #519 South Bridge Street.  The street number was changed in 1914 when the U.S. Post Office required the city to bring its addresses into compliance with federal regulations.

Tobias and Frank Foreman were a father and son who had a shoe store in Grand Ledge for many years.  Their business was in the south building of the Union Block, as indicated by the 1886 Sanborn map.  In Feb. 1888 Frank Foreman’s ad said : “I have an immense stock of boots and shoes, which I will sell at very low prices for the next 60 days to make room for the largest and most complete stock of boots and shoes ever placed in my store.…”

The 1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance map indicates that  #519 (210) was a grocery store.

According to the 1907 Sanborn map, there was a furniture store in the upstairs of the building.  The second floor of the building has always been open in the back across both sides of the buildings.  In the early years the back part of the second floor was a meeting hall, complete with stage scenery and footlights.   

Around the turn of the century, the downstairs store at #210 was a clothing store.  A.E. Lambie went into business with two partners in 1893 and the clothing store was known as Lambie, Clark and Hulse. Mr. Lambie was the only one of the trio who actually lived in Grand Ledge; Clark and Hulse lived in St. Johns where they had a large clothing store. In January 1902 the Independent announced the dissolution of the partnership and Lambie became the sole owner.  They dealt in gentlemen’s clothing and accessories.  On the second floor over Lambie’s store Dr. Betrand Hall had his dental practice in 1901.  Mr. Lambie died in 1917 when he fell from a wagon on a visit to the upper peninsula.  His son-in-law, Bert Townsend, took over the business. 

Lambie’s Clothing went out of business in 1928, and was replaced in the same location by the Larrabee Company.  This company went out of business in August 1929 and was replaced by the Flitton and Allen store, owned by Walter Flitton and (John) Elliott Allen.  Walter Flitton had worked as the head clerk at the Economy Clothing Company for many years before he and Allen started their own business.  The partnership came to an unfortunate end.  In February 1931, forty-year-old Walter Flitton shot himself to death at his home on South Clinton Street for unknown reasons.  He left behind a wife and two young sons.  His obituary in the Independent (Feb. 27, 1931) said: “…Mr. Flitton was a genial and popular salesman and had a wide acquaintance and patronage in this community…”

In the 1930’s the Gamble Accessory Store, later called Parks Gamble Store, was in this building.

After so many years as a clothing store, the next business was completely different in nature.  Frank Eschtruth bought out Coven Electric in August 1931 and his family business has been one of the mainstays of the Grand Ledge business district for nearly seventy years.  The business was originally located at 305 S. Bridge Street, then in 1933 it was moved to 201 S. Bridge Street.  In 1938 they moved to 206 S. Bridge, and then in early 1944 they moved into the south side of the Union Block, where they remained until 1969 when they moved to their present location at 315 South Bridge Street.  The business changed from an electrical wiring business to appliances, although the World War II years presented some challenges.  During those years, appliances were not being manufactured, and the Eschtruths sold gifts and toys, which they displayed on the second floor of the Union Block.  They also concentrated on servicing appliances in order to get through the war years.  Frank’s son Walt joined the business in 1963.  The building was showing its age by the time the Eschtruths bought it, and they did some modernization and changes to make it compatible with the needs of their business.  They modernized the front façade and put in a dropped ceiling.

The upstairs apartment overlooking Bridge Street continued to be rented during the time Eschtruths owned the building.  Mrs. Davis, an elderly lady, lived there for many years.  The only bathroom facilities for the second floor apartments of the Union Block were on Eschtruth’s side of the building, so an agreement was reached with the Shanes, who owned the other side of the building, that the tenant in the Shane apartment could use the bathroom facilities on the Eschtruth side of the building in exchange for Eschtruth being able to use the large open area across the back of the second floor. Frank Eschtruth continued to own the building after he moved to 315 South Bridge Street in 1969.

The Ledge’s Shopping Guide occupied the building from the mid-1970’s to the mid-1980’s. 

For the next few years, the store reverted to its past and was again a clothing store.  Bill and Shirley Woll bought  the Dancers clothing business in 1984; Bill had worked as a manager for Dancers for many years before deciding to go into business for himself.  The Wolls had two stores in town: the men’s shop was at 312 South Bridge, and the women’s store was at 214 South Bridge Street.  In 1985 a bad fire at the Pasquale’s restaurant damaged the adjacent Woll’s men’s store. For a time, they tried to combine the men’s and women’s clothing into to the one store at 214 South Bridge.  It was just too crowded, so when the opportunity arose nine months later, the Wolls moved the men’s store into the next-door building, 210 South Bridge.  To connect the two stores, they opened an archway between the two buildings, and they added fresh paint and new carpet.  Woll’s closed its doors and went out of business in August 1988.

Sanibel Floor Covering moved into the building after Woll’s closed.  Another floor covering company, Williams Carpet, took over in 1991.  The business was owned by Keith Williams and managed by Steve McNamara.  They specialized in ceramic, vinyl and hardwood floor coverings, carpet, and countertops. 

Peg Franck opened Clover’s in Cedar Village Shopping Center in 1990.  The store specialized in fine dresses and popular sportswear for women.  In the early summer of 1993, she moved her store to 210 South Bridge Street.  Peg Franck was an active member of the business community, and her popular store remained in business until September 1999. 

Business partners Ron Nichols and Jennifer Arnold opened The Grand Gallery in May 2000, but they certainly are not newcomers to the downtown business district.  Their other business, Image Projections, has been a successful part of the business community for a number of years.  The Grand Gallery offers fine artwork and prints, photographs, and decorating accessories.  Before opening for business, the old building needed a great deal of remodeling.  They gutted the inside of the store and bared the old original brick and stone walls.  They added a new tin ceiling, accent lighting, and interior partitions and walls for display space. In addition to showcasing wonderful pieces of art, their shop is an excellent example of adapting an old building to the needs of a modern business.  Ron Nichols said (GLI May7, 2000) “We wanted to show people what could be done with a place like this.”