Squint Shot 062611

The following two shots have basically nothing in common but they are the same view, just 98 years apart from each other.

In 1913, 'Merchant Day' was being celebrated and the streets were lined with cars and shoppers. Looking northwest from about the corner of Church Street and South Grand Avenue, the old photograph shows all of the buildings -- some one-story and most two-story -- that no longer exist. The two-story buildings at the left side of the picture were the last to be removed when additional parking was needed for Frank's Foodliner.

The current-day photograph shows open spaces, a parking lot, and what used to be a gas and service station at the southwest corner of South Grand and West Grand River. Something you wouldn't have seen in 1913 -- even if you could have looked through the buildings -- would be the back end of the old Ford garage. The Ford garage was completed in 1917 by Roy T. Sprague. Currently, a store marketing indoor gardening products is at the front of the building (where the flag is) and Jeffrey's Automotive operates at the rear of the building.