Saint Louis Downtown Historic District

Saint Louis was founded in 1853. Lumbering was the first industry in the area, and the town grew quickly, with 140 residents by 1865 and 477 in 1868. In 1869, a nearby mineral springs was tapped, which quickly became a popular tourist destination. The first substantial building in the downtown area was constructed that year, and in 1870 there was a building boom in anticipation of tourists visiting the springs. The Saginaw Valley & St. Louis Railroad was constructed to the village in 1871, and Saint Louis grew in population and size in the 1870s and 1880s, mainly due to the steady stream of visitor to the mineral baths. In 1881, a new ordinance required all new building construction downtown to be of brick. In 1891, the village was incorporated as a city, and by 1900 it had nearly 2,000 residents.^[3][4]

After the turn of the century, more businesses and industry moved into the city, complementing the tourism business and the surrounding agriculture. In the 1950s and 1960s many of the downtown business buildings were modernized. Some of the buildings were demolished, or succumbed to fire, in the 1960s and 1970s.^[4]

The Saint Louis Downtown Historic District includes 36 buildings in the city's central business district, 27 of which contribute to the historic nature of the district. The buildings were constructed from the 1870s to the 1990s, with most of them dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most buildings are two-story brick commercial structures, interspersed with one-and three-story buildings, and are situated close together with shared walls. They range in style from Victorian to International style.^[4]

The most significant buildings in the district include the 1881 Harrington House/Commercial State Bank Block (the only three-story building in the district), the 1908 Colonial Theater Block, and the 1881 Holcomb Opera House Building.^[4]