Author: Your Tour Guide

236 Church Street

c. 1871 – Victorian Gothic (1960 Williamsburg Features)

245 Church Street

c. 1869 – Modified Italianate

Samuel A. Reade (1832·1922), a partner in the firm of Holland & Reade, Druggists and later president of the Citizens National Bank, had this modified Italianate home constructed in 1869 at a cost of $:3,500. Worden Fenner was the builder and “the rail upon the stairway a superior piece of workmanship” was made by Mr. B. D. Weston. The present porches arc c. 1900 replacements.

213 Church Street

c. 1850 – Greek Revival

The small Greek Revival wing of this residence was the original home on this site, built probably in the 1850’s or most certainly by 1861 when David Phelps purchased the property from Isaac Brabb for $500. The two· story upright portion was added in 1868 by Cyrus Durand, a local druggist. Living with the Durands was Mr. Durand’s sister, Mrs. Francis Wilder, an Oberlin College graduate and a teacher in the Romeo High School (1879-1881) whose grandson Thornton Wilder became the famous American author winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for his novel Bridge of San Luis Rey and again in 1938 for his play Our Town.

Durand & Mussey’s Drug Store which was located in Gray’s Opera House Block (ltll) included a restaurant in f.he rear where one could acquire “oysters, stewed, fried, steamed, raw, by the quart and in any size,” “good ice cream” and “a drink called root beer which is said to be very much superior to soda water.” On the second floor they established a “perfumery works” where they made “colognes, hair oils, tooth powders, cosmetics, and flavoring extracts.” Durand encouraged the establishment, in 1882, of “the Romeo Circulation Library” which was op­erated from his store with 157 books to lend.

In April 1883, Durand sold his home and business and moved to the Dakota Territory where a number of other Romeo people had already settled. Levant Bedell, prominent jeweler in Romeo, acquired the home at this time.

200 Church Street

c. 1901 – Colonial Revival  (Site of Romeo Branch of University of Michigan)

The largest branch of the University of Michigan was located on this site from 1843·1851. It was a flourishing institution of 150 students and four instructors with “a Female De­partment … connected with the Institute, in a separate room,” and $500 worth of scientific equipment including “a fine Achromatic telescope capable of showing clearly Jupiter’s moons and belts, and Saturn’s rings and satellites.” Until recently the University Elm stood where the sidewalk jogs. In 1901 the university buildings were demolished and the present Colonial Revival residence was contructed by Romeo Builder Benjamin Lloyd for Mr. and Mrs. Thompson Jr. Mrs. Thompson was related to the wealthy Detroit and Chicago Newberry families and inherited enough wealth from her great unde, Walt Newberry of Chicago, “wealth enough to make her comfortable for life.” ($23,000) The finest materials were poured into this spacious and well-built house including golden oak for the enormous staircase. solid cherry woodwork for the master bedroom, leaded glass. windows and brass lighting fixtures for the formal rooms of the house. In 1904,  an “automobile house” was constructed behind the residence to shelter Mrs. Thompson’s ”Cadillac automobile” which “she handles . . .like an expert.”

188 Church Street

c. 1869 – Late Greek Revival

This late Greek Revival residence was constructed in 1869 for John G. Stranahan (1869-1881) at a cost of $2,000. In February 1888, Dr. Robert L. Parkin (1860-1912) an “educated veterinary surgeon from Brooklyn, Long Island” who later became a medical doctor, purchased the home. Mrs. Parkin (1865-1930) was an older sister of Mrs. Omar Thompson, Jr. and showed great concern over the extravagant style of life her younger sister followed. The home was remodeled following the design of local architect Jack Burns in the late 1960s.

247 North Fremont Street

c. 1844 – Greek Revival

Professor Rufus Nut­ting arrived in Romeo in 1841 and with hi:; “estimable wife and daughter Miss Marcia” directed the Romeo Academy until J843 when he helped establish the University of Michigan branch and served as its headmaster until 1847. This fine Greek Revival residence placed proudly on its miniature acropolis may have been built c. 1844 by Nutting. According to tradition the residence has always been painted brown, “a quiet, agreeable color,” that was becoming popular in the East at this time. Supposedly, melo­deons were made in the home by Rufus Nutting II during hie period of ownership (1846-1851). Rev. Dr. Philo Hurd, Congregational minister and a “stationmaster” in Michigan’s underground railway acquired the residence in the 1850s and presumably opened his home to fugitive slaves bound for Canada. John M. Potter, (1839-1894), “a pleasant, obliging and capable salesman” purchased the residence in the early 1870s. In November, 1875 Dr. John B. Fares, {1830-1898), a native of Wainfleet, Ontario and graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago “removed his resi­dence to the brown house on Church Street” and purchased the home in 1878. His family has re­tained ownership of the home ever since.

180 Church Street

c. 1894 – Queen Anne

S.F. Kezar, (1829·1898), a native of Turner, Maine, had this late Queen Anne residence constructed in 1894. In typical Maine tradition, Mr. Kezar had the barn directly connected to the home. After Mr. Kezar’s death his ·wife and daughter moved to San Francisco where they acquired a considerable inheritance from Mrs. Kezar’s brother and donated the Kezar Sports Stadium in that city and the Kezar Memorial Library in Romeo . The present classical porch on the Kezar residence was added by the Levant Bedell family c. 1911.

129 Church Street

c. 1895 – Queen Anne

A well designed Queen Anne cottage that was constructed by Albert Kennedy in 1895 for George Washer, popular Romeo harness maker at the turn of the century once sat on this site. The home was severely damaged in an explosion in 2018 and demolished. We included this entry as a reminder to cherish everything you see today.