Lee Woodard and Sons Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Lee Woodard and Sons Building
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| Location | 306 S. Elm St., Owosso, Michigan |
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| Area | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| MPS | Owosso MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 80001914 |
| Added to NRHP | November 4, 1980 |
The Lee Woodard and Sons Building is a former factory building located at 306 South Elm Street in Owosso, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is now Woodard Station Lofts.
History
By 1900, Lyman Woodard's Furniture and Casket Company had grown large enough to warrant constructing an additional building. Woodard built a large four story brick factory building directly adjacent to his existing plant, and began equipping it. Unfortunately, demand for finished wood products began to decline. In 1904, Lyman Woodard died, causing a crisis at the firm. However, Woodard's son, Lee, stepped in to restore the company's health. When woodworking products failed to revive the company, Woodard turned to metal furniture, and converted the factory's equipment. By the mid-1920s, Woodard was again prominent in the furniture-making business, and began constructing an addition to the factory.
However, the Great Depression took its toll, and by 1942 the Woodard Furniture Company had liquidated its assets. In 1942, Lee Woodard converted the factory to make components for the war effort. After the war, he resumed furniture production, concentrating on metal furniture. Production continued for the next few decades, and in 1995, the company moved its factory and offices into a new building. Later the original 1900 building was converted into loft housing, containing commercial space and residential lofts.
Description
The Lee Woodard and Sons Building is a large four story brick factory. The building has tripled sets of four-over-four double hung sash windows in bowed arch brick openings. The only details on the exterior are brick pilasters at two bay intervals, and a simple dentilated brick corniceline. A c. 1925 addition is ten bays wide, and has the same basic window pattern, but with windows in trabeated brick openings.
