Riverside  

Riverside Drive Part II

What was Along the Flat River on Riverside Dr?
In 1910 the Sanborn fire insurance map shows a continuous line of small buildings from Main Street going upriver along West Water Street (the earlier name of Riverside Dr). There was a harness shop, produce store, a vacant building, a building listed as storage, a warehouse, a wood shop, a blacksmith, a warehouse, and icehouse and another warehouse. In 1910, the Central Michigan Produce Company leased a part of the old Central Hotel which remained after the fire (1908) and put in a cream station. Bert Hayes, who had managed the cream station, and Hermain Raimer opened a meat market here in 1912.

By 1918, the line of buildings was not continuous. In that year there was a plumbing business, a vacant lot, a grocery, a warehouse, a boat house, a 2-story blacksmith and wagon shop, a wood shop and a blacksmith.

In 1929 the buildings are separated and included an upholstery shop, a wire works, a grocery warehouse, a plumbing business, a pipe shop, the electric company warehouse and another warehouse.

The Lee building along Main Street was torn down in 1939 and the new brick dime store building was built around the corner onto Riverside Dr. over the lots that previously were described as an upholstery shop and wire works.  Next door was a small building used for auto storage for one car.  Then came a miscellaneous storage building, a restaurant, a plumbing shop, the pipe shop, and the electric company warehouse.

The blacksmith shop on the riverbank was operated by Eli F. Denny (born 1850, died 1924). He came to Lowell when he was 14 years of age with his parents and settled on a farm one mile east of Lowell. In 1877, the Business Directory lists Charles Townsend and Eli Denny as blacksmiths on Water St. Denny is listed by himself after that. In 1878, the newspaper advertised “Flour and feed from Fox’s mills can be had … across from E. F. Denny’s Blacksmith shop. Try It!”  Fox’s mills were on the Flat River on Burroughs road north of Lowell. So, this must have been an outlet shop. In 1883, the Denny blacksmith shop caught fire from a spark from the forge and came very near being a big blaze.

Three years later another tragedy struck the Denny family. The Lowell Journal, May 14, 1886 recorded:  “Late Wednesday afternoon, little Otto Denny (9 or 10 years old), Son of Eli F. Denny, was found missing. He had been hauling driftwood from the river in front of his father’s shop. A log runner near the bridge had found his hat and pike pole floating down stream. The conclusion was at once reached that the boy had fallen into the river and drowned. The alarm was given, the river was dragged and hundreds of people gathered along the shores and on the bridge to await results. …The river above and below the chute was dragged in vain. The next morning the search continued. Flat river was dragged and Grand River was carefully searched down as far as the island below the lower bridge. Dynamite cartridges were exploded in the water above and below the dam here. The boom company ceased running logs and did not break the jam until morning.“ The body of Otto Denny was found 9 days later. People who were standing on the bridge saw it come up from under the boom.

In 1910, after working here for 40 years, Denny sold his blacksmith to James Baird who had been an employee. Denny returned for two more years and in 1913 sold to C. L. F. Williamson who continued into the 1930s. He is listed as “horseshoer and general blacksmith.”
In the 1930s, the Down Town Dairy, operated by Winton Wilcox, was located at 101 Riverside Dr. In 1938, they moved to their Main Street location between The Old Theatre and Wear Forward (Larkin’s) because Frank’s bazaar was soon to build a new brick building along Riverside Dr. for his Frank’s 5c to $1 store (Easy Street restaurant today).

The building at 103 Riverside Drive is labeled “miscellaneous storage” in 1940. Butch (Germain) Thompson stored his carnival characters and games in the building. In the 1980s, its occupants were Blinds-R-Us followed by Jim Hummel’s land development office. Since 1990, it has been W. J. (Bill) Wheeler’s CPA office. He established his business in 1985 at 210 W. Main, the Reedy Real Estate office, but then the Flat River Antique Mall bought it to expand their premises so he moved.

There has been a restaurant on the riverbank at 109 Riverside since the 1940s. Arthur “Curly” Howard operated the Club Diner, affectionately called “Curly’s” during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He cooked hamburgers in his cast iron skillet and served his famous day-old chili. “The hamburgers were greasy but good, and the chili got better with age,” says Bruce Munroe who frequented Curly’s as a kid. Curly had been a merchant marine cook on a ship. In 1979, when he sold to Jack Lucchesi, he had been a businessman in Lowell for 40 years. The Lucchesi Ranch House, also listed as Bif’s Ranch House in 1983 was here next. Keiser’s Kitchen Too was here; and then again from January 20 to May 23, 1988, after a fire destroyed Keiser’s W. Main Street restaurant and before they relocated to 700 E. Main. Sherrie’s Pizza was listed here, 1988-89. In 1992, Bif Tickler and Keith Houghtaling opened Backwater Café. Bif explained that she had owned the Lucchesi Ranch House 10 years previously and her dad owned the building and still did. The Backwater Café, 1992-2022, was famous for their homemade bread, homemade potato chips and large food portions. Sabor Mexicano moved here in 2022. 
 
Covert Plumbing and Heating was at 117 Riverside Drive for many years. Ray Covert purchased the business from Phil Krum. In 1929, Covert advertised “Plumbing, Heating and Sheet Metal Work”.  His son Lyle joined Ray in the business in 1945 after serving in World War II. After Ray died, Lyle took over the business from 1948 to 1959. Lyle’s son Bill joined the family business throughout high school and for a couple of years thereafter.

Images:

Club Diner at 109 Riverside Dr, Lowell, was owned and operated by Curly Howard during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It had a room for kids to play pool or pinball. Howard sold to Jack Lucchesi in 1979 and it became Lucchesi’s Ranch House serving breakfast all day. It was Backwater Café (1992-2022) and Sabor Mexicano since 2022.
   
Arthur “Curly” Howard

Milk bottle from Down Town Dairy

Lyle Covert’s Plumbing Journals can be found at the Museum.

Backwater Café with Bif Altoft, 2008.

1966 slide taken by Larry Wittenbach. Notice the substation and all the wires.

1885:  The buildings on the Flat River’s west bank included an ice house, two warehouses, Eli Denny’s blacksmith and wood shop in blue, a livery, meat market and Farmer’s Home which held a dining hall and rooms especially for farmers who had come to town to sell or trade their products.
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1940: The new brick Frank’s 5c to $1 dime store which was built in 1939 expanded the building around the corner along Riverside Drive. Downtown Dairy, which occupied some of this space in the 1930s, had to move away.