Architecture & Business on Courthouse Square

Architecture and Business on Courthouse Square. . , By the late 1870s, Ann Arbor was a thriving and prosperous business center. The streets facing Courthouse Square contained some of the town's grandest commercial buildings. Originally, the northwest corner of Main and Huron was the site of a small, two-story, log block house built by town founder John Allen in 1824. Later expanded and painted red, Allen's former home was called "Bloody Corners." It housed a tavern, inn, and store before being replaced by Ann Arbor's first large hotel, the "Franklin House." , , The imposing Gregory Block was built on this site in 1862. For over a century it provided space for a wide variety of establishments, including a hotel, banks, bars, bookstores, a post office, and Municipal Court offices. It became known as the Masonic Block when Masonic lodges occupied the second and third floors from 1885 to 1926. , , By the time of its destruction in a 1971 fire, the Gregory Block's rich architectural details had been hidden under a facade of blue and white metal panels. The present building was constructed in 1986., Captions , Gregory Block , ca. 1868 , , Franklin House Hotel, ca. 1856. , , The Glazier Building still stands across Main Street to your left. It was built by Chelsea Stove manufacturer and State Treasurer Frank P. Glazier (right) to house his newspaper and offices. A symbol of his wealth, ambition, and influence, it became instead a reminder of personal failure. Bankruptcy, followed by a prison term for embezzlement, forced him to resign as state treasurer before the building was completed in 1908. , , Except for the loss of the elaborate pressed-metal cornice, the exterior of what was once Ann Arbor's tallest building has changed little from the time of its construction. , , Photos courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library , , Sponsors: , One North Main, LLC/Broder and Sachse Real Estate , Comerica Bank , Bruce and Patricia Arden · Beth and Joe Fitzsimmons · Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone , Maya Savarino and Ray Tanter · Richard Shackson