Squint Shot 110812

My fellow explorer and I were on the second floor of the Harmon building a few weeks back.  If you have read this blog for very long, you probably have recognized I'm somewhat fascinated with this building rebuilt in 1892 after a devastating fire that burned all of the wooden buildings in the northeast quadrant, ultimately leaping over North Grand River and destroying this building.

 

The second and third floors are time capsules of days gone by when doctors and lawyers and dentists filled the second floor, and members of the International Order of Odd-Fellows would hold monthly meetings.  Those activities were years and years ago.

 

In the not-to-distant past -- 1980s -- Fred Dillingham used the first floor for his hardware store.  He may have also used the north portion of the second floor for some items.  In the floor, the following two pictures show a trap door:

This picture shows a massive hook in the ceiling directly above the trap door:

And, this picture shows what was possibly the platform used to lift items from the first floor through the trap door, with a chain/possibly pulley system attached to the hook in the ceiling to the round top of the metal braces.

It would be totally wonderful if anyone remembers this and could either confirm our assumptions or correct it -- I would put an update on the article.