McKune Block

McKune Block. A Hotel That Never Was. , Historically the building located on the northeast corner of Main and Middle was known as the McKune Block. The block was called McKune after its owner and builder Timothy McKune built this late Commercial Italianate building in the late 1870s. McKune himself was a dry goods merchant, Civil War veteran and Sylvan Township supervisor. Construction began a year after the 1876 fire that consumed his prior wood frame hotel in the same location. The new brick building took three years to build and had five chimneys toward its rear. Commercial Italianate buildings are typically characterized with flat roofs, large overhanging eaves with elaborate bracketing, and narrow round or square-hooded windows. , , McKune had previously bought a brick homestead on South Main St. built by Chelsea Founder Elisha Congdon and turned it into a hotel in the late 1860s. The McKune Block may have been constructed as a new replacement hotel after the fire. His plans changed when new businesses began to lease the building in early 1880 which included the Tuomey Brothers Dry Goods, Gilbert and Croswell's Dry Goods, the Post Office and U. L. Townsend's Boot and Shoe shop. , , The Main St. side of the building originally had two pilastered bay storefronts with a central stair entry. Numerous businesses resided here throughout the rest of the 19th century, but the most notable were the meat markets of Drunser and Eisele and the drug store of Rolla Armstrong. Phoebe Hooker and her daughter ran an upstairs Millinery shop. A post Civil War fraternal organization, the Knights of Pythias, also occupied the second story in the early 20th century. William Schatz's tobacco and barber shop occupied the corner unit on Main St. from 1897 until the mid-1960s. , , In the early 20th century, J. E. Weber's Saloon occupied the north end of the building on Main St. Right after prohibition started in Michigan in 1918, John Coin's Sugar Bowl confectionary moved in, lunches were also served there. Later Greek immigrant John Panaritis's Chelsea Candy Works opened, giving Chelsea home-made confections until the late 1950s. Two subsequent businesses served dairy treats and lunches , Louie's Dairy Bar, then F&M restaurant which opened in 1964. , , By the late 1970s the building was suffering from neglect and in need of extensive repairs and upgrading. By 1986 the village council threatened to condemn it, which forced a sale to Joyce Johnson. Her husband, Sam, had been part owner and operator of the adjacent building that housed the Gambles hardware store. Johnson immediately began work to restore the first floor level to an early historic appearance attracting new tenants. The East Middle St. side had not been used for separate businesses in decades. By the end of the 1990s, The Village Shoppe occupied most of the building through the next decade. , , A public telephone booth was located on the Middle St. side for many years starting in the 1950s.