203 E. Main

Address: 203 E. Main

Built: 1905

Owner/Builder: Loveland & Hinyan

Building name:  Negonce

1st business:  M. N. Henry Drugstore

The first frame house in Lowell was built on this site by Cyprian Hooker and his son John in 1846. The lumber for it was floated down the Flat River with the help of the Odawa. The house was moved away in 1872 so a brick 2 ½ story block could be built. The drugstores of J. C. West, Will M. Clark, L. H. Hunt and A. D. Sturgis operated here from 1872 to 1905. Fire leveled this store and five adjoining ones in 1905.

Loveland and Hinyan bought the lot from J. C. West and built the current Negonce Building which contains four storefronts, 203-209 E. Main.  Notice the name “Negonce” at the top center of the building. John Hooker chose to honor Negonce, his Odawa childhood friend and former employee, by naming the new building for her. 

M. Norton Henry operated Henry’s Modern Drug and Book Store in this building. It including a soda fountain, 1905-1945. Henry’s son, Myron Henry, followed, 1945-1950. Next it was Lawrence Watson’s Drugs, 1950-1963.  

The second floor was occupied by S. P. Hicks, Attorney, Loans, Collections, Real Estate and Insurance, 1884 - 1916.  Hicks became a lawyer, after serving as Superintendent of Lowell Public Schools for seven years.  Myrtle A. Taylor of Standard Savings and Loan Association (1937-40) and Wm. H. Large, Chiropractor (1946-49), were upstairs at a later date.

In 1967, Lowell Raceways, a slot car racing enterprise, was at this address.  Slot cars were popular toys in the 1960s.  Boys could bring their own from home to race against their friend’s cars.

Elva Topp moved Vanity Hair Fashions here in 1968-1987. It was Showboat Classic Cuts (1989), New Creations Salon (1991-96), Riverbend East Hair Salon (1999-2004) and Century Post Pub (2005-2020).  This store was recently purchased by Greg Gilmore and renovated to become Tributary East, a part of the Flat River Grill restaurant which is next door on the west.    
 
Images:
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M. Norton Henry Drugstore opened in the new Negonce building in 1905.  Henry was a certified pharmacist. He also sold textbooks, stationery and wallpaper.  1st Photo was taken in 1929.  2nd: in the 1930s. The sign on the sidewalk reads “Bus Stop”. Riders waited at Henry’s to take the bus to Grand Rapids, Lansing or Detroit. If you look closely, you can see the sidewalk deterioration where the bus wheels hit the curb.
 
Besides manufacturing and selling medicinal drugs, M.N. Henry also published postcards.  This is labeled High School.  It was built along the Flat River on North Monroe in 1862 and torn down in 1915 to make way for the brick school built on that site, 1915-1974.  The white school’s bell was first rung for the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
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Watson’s Drug Store Bottle