Fairman Building | |
Fairman Building c. 1906 | |
Location | 102-106 S. Michigan Ave., Big Rapids, Michigan |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°41′53″N85°28′54″W / 43.69806°N 85.48167°W Coordinates: 43°41′53″N85°28′54″W / 43.69806°N 85.48167°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1880 |
Built by | Crocker & Hudnutt |
Architect | Crocker & Hudnutt |
Architectural style | Italianate |
NRHP reference No. | 87000072 [1] |
Added to NRHP | February 12, 1987 |
The Fairman Building is a commercial building located at 102-106 South Michigan Avenue in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. [1]
Ferdinand Fairman was born in Lyme, New York in 1833. [2] He became a teacher, and in 1855 married Julia Waters; the couple had three children. In 1859, Fairman purchased a general store in Alexandria, New York and successfully ran it until 1871, when he liquidated his assets and moved to Adams, New York to further educate his children. Over the next two years, Fairman travelled in different parts of the US to ascertain where an advantageous place to move. [2] He finally settled on Big Rapids, and in 1873 moved from New York to Big Rapids. [3] Fairman first took a position as cashier at a local bank, but soon became involved in a substantial amount of real estate, investment, and other non-lumbering activities in what was then a primarily lumbering town. In 1875, he and Samuel Potter, another New York transplant, established a private bank; in 1879 Potter retired and Fairman bought him out. [2]
In 1880, Fairman hired the Big Rapids firm of Crocker and Hudnutt to design and build this commercial block; his bank was located in the building until its dissolution in the early 1890s. The Fairman Building remains the largest commercial block in Big Rapids. [3]
In 2003, the Fairman Building, along with the nearby Nisbett Building, were refurbished into senior citizen housing, and are now known as the Nisbett-Fairman Residences. [4]
The Fairman Building is a three-story rectangular red brick Italianate commercial block. [3] It is located at the intersection of Maple and South Michigan, and has two main facades, with five three-bay storefronts and single-bay entryway to the upper floors on South Michigan and four three-bay storefronts on Maple. The facade is accentuated with buff-colored brick work at the corners. A metal cornice supported with brackets runs across the top; the brackets provide a delineation between the storefronts on each facade. [3]
The Cass Park Historic District is a historic district in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, consisting of 25 buildings along the streets of Temple, Ledyard, and 2nd, surrounding Cass Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and designated a city of Detroit historic district in 2016.
The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a historic district located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Lake Street Historic District is located along the west side of that street, state highway NY 19, in downtown Bergen, New York, United States. It contains several of Romanesque Revival style buildings from the last decades of the 19th century and the first two of the early 20th. Most were built after the village banned wooden buildings following two devastating fires in the area. One is currently used as Bergen's municipal building.
The Clinton Downtown Historic District is a historic district located in the village of Clinton in Clinton Township in the northernmost portion of Lenawee County, Michigan. It consists of most of the 100 block of U.S. Route 12, known locally as West Michigan Avenue, plus Memorial Park at 200 West Michigan. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 2010.
The Masonic Temple in Cadillac, Michigan is a commercial building built in 1899. It is the earliest surviving fraternal building designed by the prolific architect Sidney Osgood. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The Nisbett Building is a commercial building located at 101 South Michigan Avenue in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1977 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Alma Downtown Historic District is a commercial historic district in Alma, Michigan, roughly located along Superior Street between the Pine River and Prospect Avenue, and along State Street between Center and Downie Streets. Parts of the district were designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975, and the entirety was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. It contains 72 structures, primarily brick commercial buildings, ranging from one to three stories in height and dating from 1874 to the 1960s.
Downtown LaPorte Historic District is a national historic district located at LaPorte, LaPorte County, Indiana. The district encompasses 70 contributing buildings in the central business district of LaPorte. It developed between about 1860 and 1930, and includes examples of Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Neoclassical style architecture. Notable buildings include the Zahrt Blocks, Ridgway Hotel (1863), Higday and Collins Blocks (1886–1888), LaPorte County Courthouse (1890–1894), Odd Fellows Building (1895), Lonn's Block (1889), People's Bank (1912), U.S. Post Office (1912), New York Central Depot (1909), Masonic Temple (1910), and Hotel Rumely (1912).
The New Center Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located on Woodward Avenue between Baltimore Street and Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Manistee Central Business District is a commercial historic district roughly bounded by Maple, Washington, Water and River Streets in Manistee, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Howard Block, also known as the Central Block, is a commercial building located at 201-205 Huron Avenue in Port Huron, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The 'Ionia Downtown Commercial Historic District is a primarily commercial district located roughly along West Main and Washington Streets, from Dexter Street to Library Street, in Ionia, Michigan. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Portland Downtown Historic District is a primarily commercial historic district located along Kent and Maple Streets, between Academy Street and the Looking Glass River, in Portland, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Island City Historic District is a primarily commercial historic district which encompass the whole of the island on which stands the central part of Eaton Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
The Weinmann Block is a commercial building located at 219-223 East Washington Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Wallace Block is a commercial building located at 101-113 South Ann Arbor Street in Saline, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Michigan Millers Mutual Fire Insurance Company Building is a historic office block located at 120-122 West Ottawa Street in Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Grow Block is a commercial building located at 120-122 West Exchange Street in Owosso, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Peck Block is a commercial building located at 34-50 Monroe Center NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The building has been rehabilitated to house condos on the upper floors.
The Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District is a group of commercial buildings located along the south side of two blocks of Michigan Avenue, from 3301–3461, in Detroit. This section of buildings is the most intact collection along this stretch of Michigan Avenue. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.