Shopping On East Huron Street

Advertising signs and cards display the wide variety of goods offered in the 1870s by the businesses pictured above. The plank sidewalk, gas lanterns, and dirt road have long since been replaced by concrete, bright lights, and blacktop. All the buildings east to Fourth Ave., including the imposing Cook House Hotel, are gone.

But in the block beyond, some remain behind facades that reflect changing needs and styles over time. The brick building on the corner of East Huron St. and South Fourth Ave. where Caspar Rinsey sold groceries has long been hidden behind painted aluminum siding.

SINCE ITS CONSTRUCTION IN 1858, THE BRICK BUILDING IN THE PHOTO ABOVE HAS SERVED AS JACOB HALLER'S JEWELRY STORE, THE CITY BAKERY, THE WASHTENAW POST TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER OFFICE, AND KLEINSCHMIDT INSURANCE. IT STILL STANDS TODAY BEHIND THE DISTINCTIVE ART DECO FACADE OF 206 EAST HURON ST.

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SPONSORED BY KLEINSCHMIDT INSURANCE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY