1937 Hi-Speed Advertisement

In 1937, the Commercial Hotel was torn down. It was located at the southwest corner of the main four corners and had stood there since 1880, when it was built to replace the wooden structure of the Reason House -- also known as "Independence Hall" -- which burned to the ground in February, 1878. The Commercial Hotel was probably mostly empty by 1937, and had had a history in the previous 20 years of changed owners, possible demolition after being deemed unusable, and may have been unsafe in some areas of the building. A Lansing wrecking company bought the building and tore it down that year. Shortly after that, the Hi-Speed Station was built in its place.

The history of the corner since that time has included numerous brands of gas stations -- including Hi-Speed, Pure, and 76 -- and was used as a car repair location, a sales lot for used cars, and even vendors have used that corner. Mr. B's and Whenever Weinnies have sold food at that corner. It is now used annually for the village's Christmas tree, where the lights are lit the first Saturday of December at the culmination of the yearly parade and arrival of Santa Claus.

For more information on the Commercial Hotel and/or Reason House, you can always search this blog by typing those words in the "Search" capability at the upper left hand corner of the home page.