Iconic Buildings Archives - Page 5 of 6

The Hidden Tibbits Opera House

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings .

It is hard to believe that such a magnificent and beautiful building would be changed and covered up. The historic Tibbits Opera House is the second oldest theater in Michigan. It was built in Coldwater because the town is located halfway between Detroit and Chicago it was a popular resting point for many travelers. In the 1930s it was converted into a movie theater and the second empire architecture was covered up and hidden underneath with a modern-looking facade.

The Tibbits Opera House converted into a movie theater in the 1930s from Wikipedia

By the 1960s the building was just an ordinary-looking brick building with some arched windows. it is hard to believe the once beautiful and ornate building was stripped of its grandeur and left standing as a plain-looking brick box in downtown Coldwater.

The Opera House as it looked in the 1960s from Wikipedia

With the old opera house slated to be demolished for urban renewal, a band of Coldwater citizens formed the Tibbits Opera Foundation and Arts Council in 1963. Over the decades they slowly began restoring the old building starting with the interior first. At the turn of the millennium the exterior was renovated and by 2011 the facade was brought back to its second empire design and looks the way it did when it was first constructed.

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The High Place in Da U.P.

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, upper peninsula .

I was traveling through Ishpeming and I saw the red stone and brick building that is the town’s city hall. I had to stop and get a photo of it. Ishpeming is the Chippewa name for “High Place” and it was given that name in 1862 when the post office opened.

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The Lights at the Waterworks

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, Winter Wonderland .

Every holiday season the Waterworks building in Saginaw is decorated with lights. It is a magical display enjoyed by many people as they pass by the iconic building on Ezra-Rust Drive. Most people are unaware of the significance of the red white and blue lights decorating the pine tree on the corner.

In 1979, during the Iran Hostage Crisis at the Embassy in Tehran, plant supervisor Wally Rogalski had the tree decorated as a patriot gesture in honor of the hostages. The tree has been decorated with the American colors ever since then. The hostage crisis occurred a long time ago, but I think it’s also a good reminder to remember all the men and women who serve in the military at home and abroad, and the sacrifices they make for us, especially during the holidays.

If you read my post yesterday you probably know I live in Saginaw. If you are near Saginaw I hope you will come out and see me. I will be at the Arthur Hill holiday bazaar on Saturday, December 7th from 9-3. I will also be at the Antique Warehouse on Tittibiwasse on Thursday night from 6-8 signing books at their open house.

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City Hall in Bay City

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings .

I love the clock tower on the Richardsonian Romanesque city hall building in Bay City. It was built in 1894 and the tower has been standing over Bay City ever since.

Reminder: This Saturday ( Nov 23rd ) I will be at Handy Middle School in Bay City for their annual bazaar. I will be selling books, calendars, and T-Shirts. I hope you will stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

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The Old Jail

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Iconic Buildings .

Big Rapids became the county seat of Mecosta County in 1859 and incorporated as a city in 1869. This building served as the county jail and sheriff’s residence from 1893 until 1965.It’s the oldest public structure in the original plat of the village of Big Rapids, it features gable and hip roofs and turrets characteristic of Queen Anne style architecture. A tunnel ran underground from the old jail to the courthouse for inmates to be transferred for court appearances.

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The New Two Story Outhouse

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Iconic Buildings .

If you have followed my website or read my book you probably know about the two-story outhouse in Cedar Lake. I was traveling near it recently so I decided to drive by and see how the old privy was doing. I was shocked as I came upon the location to see a new two-story outhouse standing tall and proud on the lot where the original one once stood. If you look to the left of the outhouse you can see a small structure behind a tree and that is all that remains of the original historic two-story outhouse. Last time I was there the house that stood in front of the old privy was destroyed by fire and was a burned pile of rubble. I learned from the Vestaburg Historical Society facebook page that someone recently purchased the lot and built the new outhouse in honor of its historic past.

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The Sanitarium

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, Michigan Historical Markers .

I remember back in the 90s watching a trailer for a movie called The Road To Wellville with Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Broderick or as I call him Ferris Bueller. I thought sure seems like a strange looking move and plot. Later I found out it was based on John Harvey Kellogg and his “unique” way of treating patients. I figured since I was in Battle Creek I had to stop and see the old Sanitarium. There is a historical marker in front of it that reads.

The Battle Creek Sanitarium opened in 1866 as the Western Health Reform Institute. The institute was founded on the health principles advocated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In 1876, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg became the medical superintendent at the sanitarium. Kellogg’s many innovations included the use of radiation therapy for cancer patients and the invention of flaked cereal. The sanitarium burned in 1902; the following year a six-story Italian Renaissance Revival-style building, designed by Dayton, Ohio, architect Frank M. Andrews, was constructed. Kellogg’s brother W. K. Kellogg worked at the sanitarium for twenty-six years before leaving to establish the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company. The Battle Creek Sanitarium is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1928 the Battle Creek Sanitarium was enlarged with a fourteen-story “towers” addition and dining room annex designed by M. J. Morehouse of Chicago. After the stock market crashed in 1929, business declined; the facility went into receivership in 1933. The sanitarium continued to occupy the site until 1942 when the U. S. Army purchased the buildings and established the Percy Jones General Hospital, named for an army surgeon whose thirty-year career included commanding ambulance units during World War I. The hospital specialized in neurosurgery, plastic surgery and the fitting of artificial limbs. Approximately 100,000 military patients were treated at the hospital before it closed permanently in 1953. In 1954 the building became the Battle Creek Federal Center.

In 2003, the building was re-dedicated as the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of three U.S. Senators who had met as wounded servicemen while they were being treated at the hospital during WWII: Philip Hart of Michigan, who had been wounded during the Normandy Landings at Utah Beach on D-Day, Bob Dole of Kansas, who was wounded in combat over Italy, and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who had been wounded while engaged in combat in Italy.

P.S. I still have not watched The Road To Wellville since it looked strange but maybe I should. I am sure I can find it on VHS somewhere.

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The Old Store In West Branch

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings .

I stopped in West Branch recently and like I normally do, I get off I-75 on one exit and drive thru town and get back on the other exit. Just south of Downtown I noticed this old closed up gas station party store that was for sale. I could not help but noticed the woodwork on the building and it got me wondering what this place was originally. It looks like it was converted to a store, but I think it was a house or something before that. It kinda looks like an old fire station, and if you have followed my posts for a while you know I love old fire stations.

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Climax Michigan RFD

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, small towns .

Delivering packages with drones seems really far fetched, but a century ago delivering mail to everyone in the united states seemed like an impossible task. Many small rural towns had a post office that was in a local general store, saloon, or inn. The farmers or ranchers would come into town and pick up their mail. In 1893 legislation was passed in the United State congress that required the post office to implement rural free delivery ( R.F.D). On December 3rd 1896, the post office in the town of Climax between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo was the first to start an R.F.D. route in Michigan. The letter carriers delivered the mail by bicycle and horse and buggy to the surrounding citizens. This is a pic of the old stone post office in Climax which is now a library.

The local business that contained the post offices were not too fond of the new delivery system since people did not have to pick up their mail, and possibly purchase something at their business while they are in town. It’s strangely similar to the online vs brick and mortar store competition. who knows in a hundred year there will be something new, some sort of outer space colony delivery system and they will think what we do now was old fashioned.

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The Castle on Woodward in Detroit

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Iconic Buildings, Uncategorized .

This beautiful french renaissance castle on Woodward Ave. was the home of railroad and ship-building baron Col. Frank J. Hecker. In 1888, Hecker hired architect Louis Kamper and began construction on the mansion at Woodward Avenue on the corner of Ferry and Woodward. The massive home is 21,000 square feet, and is an imposing example of French Châteauesque style based on the Château de Chenonceaux near Tours, France. Hecker used his home to host elaborate parties where he entertained luminaries such as presidents William McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes.

The exterior of the home has large turrets at the corners, and Flemish dormers in the steep hip roof. Several bays project from the main body of the home, and wrapped around the whole is a balustraded, colonnaded loggia. A carriage house in the rear is clearly visible from Woodward. At one point this structure was converted into a concert hall capable of seating 200.

The interior has 49 rooms, including a large oak-paneled hall designed for large parties, an oval dining room done in mahogany, a lobby done in English oak, and a white and gold music room. The fireplaces were constructed of Egyptian Nubian marble and onyx and Italian Siena marble were used in the vestibules.

Hecker lived in the home until his death in 1927. For the next twenty years, the home was owned by the Hecker family, but operated as a boarding house for single college students. In 1947, the mansion was sold to Paul Smiley of the Smiley Brothers Music Company, who used it for musical instruction and practice, as well as a sales office. When Smiley died in 1990, the building was sold to Charfoos & Christensen, P.C. law firm that renovated the mansion, and it served as their law offices until 2014. In September 2014, Wayne State University purchased the house for $2.3 million for its Alumni Relations Department.

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