108 & 110 West Main
South side of Main Street bridge to the west of today's Rookies building
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In 1884, a big fire on the north side of the bridge burned all buildings from the old Post Office in the center of town to the west end of the bridge and damaged some on the south side of the street. 108 W. Main: The 1885 Sanborn map reveals those that were repaired. There was a tailor shop at 108 W. Main. Benjamin C. Smith, tailor, suffered damage in the fire and was here prior to moving to the north side of the street (115 E. Main) in 1891. Next, 108 was Henry Schreiner’s harness shop from 1891 until 1905 when his entire building was swept away downstream in a flood and broken into pieces on the Pere Marquette railroad trestle (bridge) over the Flat River. The cause of the flood was a terrific thunderstorm on Monday and Tuesday which caused the Flat River to rage. The west side dam of King Milling Company on Main Street was washed away as well as the bridge and roadway. The south side buildings were either destroyed or major damage was done to the foundations. “Mr. Schreiner was in his building when it collapsed and narrowly escaped with his life. He was jammed into a small space and felt his feet entangled in the wreckage, when Frank Pickard managed to reach him with his friendly hand. At the same time Mr. Schreiner says, he felt his feet released, and he was lifted to safety, just as the ruined building started on its trip to the Pere Marquette bridge, where it soon went to pieces. Mr. Schreiner got a wrist cut and was severely injured in the chest. He figures his loss at about $3,000, which will be lessened somewhat by the small amount of stock that was saved.” Lowell Ledger, June 8, 1905. Mr. Schreiner’s memories were published in 1946 when he was 86 years old. “The flood of 1905 washed away the uptown Grand Trunk office, my store building and stock, with a loss of over $6,500, and I nearly lost my life. It also wrecked the foundation of Mrs. Carr’s millinery store, the Wright building and the H. Nash store. We had flood water from seven dams. You could row in a boat from in front of the Methodist church, down the business street to in front of Train’s Opera House. After my flood misfortune, I got a position as traveling salesman for E. B. Adams & Sons Co., which I held for 18 years.” 110 W. Main: The Sanborn map reveals that in 1885, this small building sold “Notions.” By 1892, it had become the uptown office of the Western Union Telegraph and Grand Trunk Railway. This building was swept away in the 1905 flood and never rebuilt. Images: Aftermath of the 1905 flood. The King Milling office is the white building in the foreground. Next to it, the river flows over where these two buildings were washed out. 1885 Map shows 110 W. Main was a “Notions” store. It later became the telegraph office. Before the fire of 1884, the Telegraph Office was likely further east on the bridge where it says “Off.”, because it was slightly scorched in the fire. It was moved here by 1892. 1900 Map Flood of 1905, looking south where the two buildings lost their footings and were taken down river and smashed against the trestle. Another flood, same train trestle over the Flat River; this time the track is weighted down with train cars. |
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