Scenes Along Main Street

Here are various pictures of Main Street I have taken while participating at a re-enactment.
As you can see, with properly attired people, the past can truly come to life and give the viewer a very accurate portrayal of the 19th century. The only things missing are horses and dogs!

Folks doing their Saturday business in town.

The Attica Hotel and the Printing Shop are shown here, side by side.

A bit of both sides of the road is shown here.

Every so often I like to portray my photos in sepia to give it that authentic feel

The little girl is my daughter at age five.
A scene right out of the past!

Now, on to the rest of the Village!

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Manwaring Building / Print Shop

This building was built about 1885 by the founder of the town of Dryden, Lapeer County, Michigan for use as a dry goods store. It was later used as a bakery and ice cream parlor and had an upstairs apartment.

In Crossroads Village it is used as a print shop, and visitors - especially children - can make ink prints on paper just as they did over a century ago.


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Attica Hotel

The Attica Hotel is the building on the left.

Situated directly across the road from the Horton-Colwell building, this 1870's Georgian-Colonial style structure was originally known as the Williams House, and later the Schirmer House, after the family's that owned it.
At one time it also included a post office.
William and Betsy Williams, with their 14 children, were the original owners. They settled in Attica, Michigan in 1851, William being in the lumber business. He had built a sawmill on Williams Lake (now Grass Lake).
Being the savvy businessman, he and a neighbor financially enticed the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad to construct their line by their mills by contributing $17,000 to the railroad.

The above photo was taken during the Civil War Days weekend,
which Crossroads, unfortunately, no longer has.
(more on that in a future blog)

It's now used as a souvenir shop.

~Walking to the Ball~
(The side of the Hotel)

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Clayton Township Hall

Originally built in 1878 in Clayton Township on Corunna Road, the Township Hall was a gift from the people of Clayton Township and was moved to Crossroads Village in 1976.
Clayton Township was originally called Miller's Settlement, after the first settler, Adam Miller, who arrived from New York.
When Michigan was forming towns and townships, local residents submitted possible names. Since no name was sent in for this area, someone in the state post office chose the name Clayton, and it stuck.
Township halls, such as this one, were used for elections, dances, and for meetings of government and social groups.
Here in Crossroads Village it is used as a children's wooden toy store.




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T. N. North & Son Bank and Locy's Dental Rooms

Next door to the Horton-Calwell building is the T.N. North and Son Bank.
The bank, built in 1878, retains it's original walk-in vault and ornate teller's cage. The re-created Locy's Dental Rooms, located on the second floor, depict 1800's dentistry.
Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the second floor to take photographs, although I have some decent shots of the first floor bank itself.

And, if you can't have any fun at these museums, why go?

Horten-Colwell Building

Our first building in this series, the Horton-Colwell Building, was built in 1869 by Dexter Horton and David Colwell in Fenton, Michigan. It's original location was on the corner of LeRoy and Caroline Streets.
It housed many businesses over the years, including a post office on the first floor from 1869 until 1883.
The building includes a second floor. Churches, schools, and fraternal organizations used the 2nd floor Opera House. The "FLT" in the brickwork is a symbol for the Oddfellows International fraternal organization.
General Tom Thumb, famous through Barnum, once appeared there in 1879, as did Lily Langtree, the famous opera singer. Prices for the entertainment was twenty five cents for adults and fifteen cents for children.


Besides the opera house and post office, there is a country/souvenir/"Dry Goods" store and a cafe tucked inside.
So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. If I find anything else on it, I will be sure to print it here.




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