Throwback Thursday: False Fronts

I live at 30 N. Whittaker Street.  I work at 30 N. Whittaker Street.  I have spent most of my adult life inside 30 N. Whittaker Street.  When I saw this picture, sent to us by Judi Herrbach Lowe, I thought it was an old picture of 30 N. Whittaker Street. 

 It wasn't.  


This is Fountain Square!  Or rather, this is was what Fountain Square looked like before it became Fountain Square.  In the center of the 100 block of North Whittaker, facing east.  The old Michigan Thyme building would be out of the photograph to the right.

This photo is full of highlights, but I want to make sure to point out the false fronts.  This is what fooled me into thinking I was looking at a picture of David's Delicatessen.  The false front is still prevalent throughout our downtown, not just on old buildings, but some of the new developments as well.

This is a quirky design feature that has roots in our pioneer history.  There are many examples of false front buildings throughout the south, middle, and western parts of the country.  In the late 1800's frontier businesspeople were hesitant to invest in buildings, due to the boom-and-bust nature of these young communities.  Yet they still needed to project stability and prosperity to potential customers and visitors.  Hence the false front was born; creating large and ornate facades to mask a more utilitarian approach to building in the back.  String a couple of these together on a commercial street, and you had the aura of a bustling, prosperous, urban community at the turn of the century.