Ledyard Block Historic District

Last updated
Ledyard Block Historic District
LedyardBlockGrandRapidsMI.jpg
USA Michigan location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location123-145 Ottawa Ave., and 104-124 Monroe Center, NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Coordinates 42°57′57″N85°40′14″W / 42.96583°N 85.67056°W / 42.96583; -85.67056 (Ledyard Block Historic District)
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1859 (1859)
Architect William G. Robinson et al.
Architectural styleLate Victorian, Italianate
NRHP reference No. 83000878 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 8, 1983

The Ledyard Block Historic District is a group of seven adjacent, coherently designed, nineteenth century commercial structures located within a square block at 123-145 Ottawa Avenue and 104-124 Monroe Center, NW, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The group of buildings was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1]

Contents

History

In September, 1857, a disastrous fire destroyed 25 buildings along Monroe Avenue between Market Street and Ottawa Avenue. However, the area was quickly rebuilt with new commercial structures. The first of these was the Ledyard and Aldrich Block, located at the intersection of Monroe and Ottawa. The building was constructed in 1859 for prominent Grand Rapids businessmen William B. Ledyard and his son-in-law, Moses V. Aldrich. The pair built it as an investment property, to house retail stores on the first floor and offices and a boarding house upstairs. Other local businessmen followed, constructing their own buildings along Monroe. Ledyard followed this up with the 1874 construction of the Ledyard Block at Ottawa and Pearl, designed by William G. Robinson. [2]

Description

The Ledyard Block Historic District contains seven buildings, built in three waves. The first building constructed was the Ledyard and Aldrich Block (now known as the Flatiron Building), located at 102-108 Monroe Center, N.W., which was constructed in 1859-60. The building is a four-story brick Italianate structure spanning seven bays on Monroe and nine on Ottawa. The acute angle between is rounded. Projecting eaves, supported by large wooden brackets, run across the top. Windows are a mix of segmental-arch and round-headed units, all with molded caps. [2]

The second wave of construction consists of five adjacent, similar buildings, located at 112, 114, 116, 118, and 122-24 Monroe Center, all built in about 1860. All five buildings are all four-story brick Italianate commercial structures, three or four bays wide. The last (at 122-124) was originally three stories, but a fourth has been added. The buildings are similar in appearance, to the Flatiron Building, although in some cases with less detailing. The buildings were originally constructed for different local businessmen, including Dr. Charles Shepard (112), James Lyman (114), Samuel F. Perkins (116), and John S. Nevius (118). [2]

The final wave of construction in the district was the Ledyard Block, built at 123-145 Ottawa Avenue in 1874. It is a four-story yellow brick Italianate block, running 177 feet long along Ottawa Avenue and 99 feet along Pearl Street. The building has Ionia sandstone belt courses and window surrounds. Masonry piers separate the windows. A galvanized iron cornice runs across the top. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cass Park Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkey and Gay Furniture Company Factory</span> Manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US

Berkey and Gay Furniture Company Factory is a manufacturing plant located at 940 Monroe Avenue NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings</span> Historic commercial buildings in Michigan, United States

The Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings, also known as the Monroe Block, is a historic district located along a block-and-a-half stretch at 16-118 Monroe Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, just off Woodward Avenue at the northern end of Campus Martius. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The thirteen original buildings were built between 1852 and 1911 and ranged from two to five stories in height. The National Theatre, built in 1911, was the oldest surviving theatre in Detroit, a part of the city's original theatre district of the late 19th century, and the sole surviving structure from the original Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings historic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District is a historic district located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, which includes six buildings along Randolph Street between Monroe and Macomb streets. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The collection of buildings are a rare surviving set of Detroit Victorian-era commercial structures. The Randolph Street Commercial Building Historic District joins the Broadway Avenue Historic District downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Downtown Historic District (Clinton, Michigan)</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cody Road Historic District</span> Historic district in Iowa, United States

Cody Road Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Le Claire, Iowa, United States. It includes 60 buildings along a nine-block stretch of U.S. Route 67, Cody Road, the primary street through the town. The district contains Le Claire's main commercial district on the south side of the district and residential area on the north. The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heartside</span> United States historic place

Heartside is a neighborhood located near downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. Heartside district is a developing area in the city known for its art. It has restaurants, a park with a playground and splash-pad, and a recently opened farmer's market. However, it also has experienced much urban decay, features numerous abandoned buildings, and contains a large presence of homelessness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown LaPorte Historic District</span> Historic district in Indiana, United States

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesinger Block</span> United States historic place

The Lesinger Block, also known as Little Bohemia, is a historic building located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. This building was constructed at a time of economic expansion in the city. It is a contemporary of several Italianate commercial blocks that were built downtown. Because of subsequent development in that commercial district those buildings have been replaced with newer structures leaving this building as the best extant example of commercial Italianate in Cedar Rapids. It was constructed by Vaclav Lesinger, an immigrant from Kozlov, Bohemia. He was a tailor by trade and he had this structure built in 1883 to house his tailor shop and a dry goods store. Since 1907 the building has housed a tavern that has served as a social center for the local Bohemian community. Architecturally, the two-story brick structure still retains a good deal of its original wood ornamentation, including the sawtooth frieze above the storefronts and the geometric design in the bracketed cornice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buchanan Downtown Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Buchanan Downtown Historic District is a primarily commercial historic district located in Buchanan, Michigan between 117 W. and 256 E. Front Street and between 108 and 210-212 Main Street, along with adjacent sections of Oak Street and Days Avenue. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Three Rivers Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Downtown Three Rivers Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located along North Main Street, between Michigan and Portage Avenues, in Three Rivers, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldwater Downtown Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Coldwater Downtown Historic District is a primarily commercial historic district located along West Chicago Street from Division to Clay Streets in Coldwater, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldrich Building</span> United States historic place

The Aldrich Building is a historic building located at 98 Monroe Center, NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 12, 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center Avenue Neighborhood Residential District</span> United States historic place

The Center Avenue Neighborhood Residential District is a residential historic district located in Bay City, Michigan, running primarily along Center, Fifth, and Sixth Avenues between Monroe and Green Avenues, with additional portions of the district along Fourth between Madison and Johnson, down to Tenth Avenue between Madison and Lincoln, along Green to Ridge, and around Carroll Park. The original section, along Center and portions of Fifth and Sixth, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. A boundary increase including the other sections of the neighborhood was listed in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island City Historic District</span> United States historic place

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howell Downtown Historic District</span> United States historic place

The Howell Downtown Historic District is a primarily commercial historic district located along five blocks of Grand River Avenue in the center of Howell, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Saginaw Historic Business District</span> United States historic place

The East Saginaw Historic Business District is a primarily commercial historic district located in Saginaw, Michigan and roughly bounded by Federal, North Water, North Washington and North Franklin Streets. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldrich Godfrey and White Block</span> United States historic place

The Aldrich, Godfrey, and White Block is a commercial building located at 89-99 Monroe Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peck Block</span> United States historic place

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District</span> United States historic place

The Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District in Detroit is a group of commercial buildings located along the south side of two blocks of Michigan Avenue, from 3301–3461. This section of buildings is the most intact collection along this stretch of Detroit's Michigan Avenue. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Robert O. Christensen (June 24, 1983), National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ledyard Block Historic District, National Park Service