Foley Building and Murphy Building

foleymurphy

by Kiel Vanderhovel and Derek Dykens

Architect: Shand & Eastman
Alternative Name: Bergdahl and Briggs Buildings
Location: 406-08-10 and 412-14-16 Shelden Avenue, Houghton
Built: 1902-031

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Foley and Murphy Buildings. Photograph by A. K.Hoagland, 2007.

Drawings in the Michigan Tech Archives identify the Foley Building (408 Shelden) as being designed by Shand & Eastman; because the building next door is identical, it can be assumed that Shand & Eastman designed that one too. The client for the Foley Building was Mrs. Catherine Foley of Houghton.2 The two store spaces in the Foley Building were occupied by a saloon and the electric light office, while the Murphy Building next door housed an office and a wholesale liquor store. The Foley Building is currently occupied by the Keweenaw Brewing Company.

These two-story buildings have large storefront windows on the first floor, surrounded by Jacobsville sandstone walls. The entrance to the second floor in the center bay of each building is framed in sandstone, with a round arch and keystone. The second floor is brick, with four sets of paired windows. The galvanized-iron cornice is plain, but rises in the center for the nameplate. Originally, prism glass filled the transom windows.

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Foley Building. Photograph by Derek Dykens, 2006.

Buildings by Charles K. Shand in the Copper Country

Notes

  1. Gundlach Collection, 85C, 85G, MTU Archives.
  2. Polk Directory, 1901-1902.