Today the Memory's Eye camera points at 543 North Main Street, long the location of the Dillman & Upton lumber yard. The Dillman & Upton company dates to 1910, but even before that the Daniel Kressler lumber and planing mill stood on this site. This location was an ideal spot for a lumber business in the days when the Michigan Central Railroad tracks ran along the northern edge of the property. In 1987, Dillman & Upton relocated to a former industrial property on Woodward Street - where the business is still found today - and the old building on Main Street was razed to make way for new development.Even though the old Dillman & Upton building has been gone for a quarter of a century now, when I travel past the site my memory's eye still sees this old view. The image shown here is created from a current photo of the site taken a few days ago, and a vintage view of the site taken by my father in the early 1980s.
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To the south of the Dillman & Upton building was a house at 519 N. Main. I lived in the upstairs flat for 10 years, from approximately 1974-1984. The entrance to my flat was in the back of the house in the D & U parking lot. There was a small barber shop in a separate building in front of the house. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the exterior of house but would love to see some if anyone has access.
ReplyDeleteSpent many happy times wandering around in the old D&U while my dad shopped. Upton's were great friends with my family all through my youth.
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