Center Avenue
Inscription
Center Avenue presents one of the most spectacular displays of late nineteenth and early twentieth century residential architecture in Michigan. Between 1870 and 1940 Bay City´s prominent citizens favored Center Avenue as "the" place to live. Early in this period lumbermen built lavish residences. After 1900 lumbering declined and the city´s economy diversified.
Leaders in the sugar beet, coal, shipbuilding, and other industries built stylish homes that reflected their substantial fortunes. Local architects such as Pratt and Koeppe, Clark and Munger, and Philip Floeter designed many of the buildings. Monumental churches and other public structures, like the Masonic Temple, complement the residences.
Center Avenue is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Location
Sources
More markers in Bay
Midland Street Commercial District
Bay City, MI
The Midland Street Commercial District comprises fifty buildings in a four-block area that was the business hub of West Bay City.
Bay City Boating and Fishing Club
Essexville, MI
In 1894 William Jennison, a yachtsman for fifty years, founded the Bay City Boating and Fishing Club.
Trinity Church
Bay City, MI
Trinity Church grew from a small group of settlers served by Episcopal missionaries beginning around 1842.
Ogaukawning Church
Bay City, MI
Established in 1847, the Ogaukawning Indian Mission, the first church in present-day Bay County, served Chippewa Indians at the nearby...
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Bay City, MI
St. Joseph was the first Catholic parish in the Saginaw Valley when it was founded in 1850-51 by missionary Joseph Kindekens.