The J. Vivian Jr. and Company Building is a commercial building located at 342 Hecla Street in

Laurium, Michigan Laurium (; or ) is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan, in the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 1,977 at the 2010 census. The village is mostly surrounded by Calumet Township, wi ...

. Constructed in the

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

and

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

architectural style An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...

s, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2003.

History

Captain Johnson Vivian Sr. was born in Cornwall, England. He worked in the mining industry in his home country, then emigrated to Michigan's

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweena ...

to work as a mining captain,Copper Country Architects: Charlton & Gilbert
Dany Peavey, Stevan Sliger, John Krystof, and Travis Dvorak, retrieved 8/26/09 first in Eagle Harbor, then moving to mines located in

Copper Harbor Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census. The communit ...

, Phoenix,

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New H ...

, and Ontonogan, among other places.Alvah L. Sawyer
''History of Northern Peninsula of Michigan, and Its People,'' 1911, Lewis Publishing, Chicago, p. 1328-1330 Captain Vivian had four sons, one of whom was Johnson Vivian Jr. The younger Vivian was born in the United States and attended high school in the area. Captain Vivian had a number of commercial interests, and in 1886, the younger Vivian, with assistance from his father, established J. Vivian Jr. and Company, a mercantile business, in

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. In 1894 the father and son established a branch of their mercantile business in Laurium, constructing a building on Hecla Street. At the time, the firm was taking a risk as the store's location was viewed as remote.Laurium Historic District
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM, Jane C. Busch, Sept 22, 2004 However, the store was an immediate success, and by 1895 employed 50 people. Other merchants followed Vivian's example, and the block on Hecla soon became the commercial center of the area. In 1903, the store was the largest in the area. Johnson Vivian Jr. took over his father's business when the latter died in 1909. He continued as a leading citizen in Laurium. He was the president of the State Savings Bank and the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 So ...

(the Laurium ice rink), a director of the Laurium Park Association, and on the board of directors of the Calumet Public Hospital. The J. Vivian Jr. and Company was in business until 1936.

Description

The J. Vivian Jr. and Company building was constructed in multiple stages. The original building, dating from 1894, was two stories tall and three bays wide, measuring 58 feet across. This soon proved too small, and in 1898 a third story was added to the structure. In 1906, a fourth bay was added on the north side, bringing the total building width to 90 feet. A one-story addition to the rear was completed in 1974. The building is constructed in an

design from brick with sandstone trim. The structure has four bays, each with a two-story round-arched window. A cornice features alternating marble medallions and attic windows. Brick and sandstone piers divide the plate glass windows on the first floor.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Houghton County, Michigan Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Renaissance Revival architecture in Michigan Italianate architecture in Michigan Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States Commercial buildings completed in 1894 National Register of Historic Places in Houghton County, Michigan