Totem Pole Tales-Abbot's Furniture Armond Lee Mercantile Conklin's Appliance and Gas Porter's TV Repair Submitted by Nute Chapman From Onaway Outlook Feb. 17, 2012

Caption:  A building that went by a lot of different names, graced the corner of State and Elm, was razed in 1978.



(Editor's Note: Totem Pole Tales returns this week with a primary focus on the history of the area.
Newton "Nute" Chapman, Jr. will share historical photos and knowledge he's collected from "old timers",
his father Newton Chapman Sr., as well as other family members.)


  Last week, the Colonial Hotel, where the Dairy Queen is now located, was highlighted.

  In staying with the theme of downtown buildings, let's look at the building that was located directly
across the roadway on the southeast corner of State and Elm. 

  Abbot's Furniture established a business in a large building in 1904, which went all the way back to 
the alley and later included an addition.

  What's interesting about the business is they did undertaking as well.  It was in their advertising.

  Armond Lee bought the building and it was a hardware and mercantile business.  Later, Conklin's Appliance 
and Gas bought it.  They rented out apartments and had LP gas service.  They did repairs and delivered
propane. 

  Then, Arnold Porter bought it and had his TV service n there.  He sold TVs, eight-track tape players, and 
anything that had to do with radios.  He was a radio/television repairman in the community.

  I actually bought a brand new eight-track deck tape player there, which was made at Plymouth Industries
in Cheboygan, where my wife Pat was working when I met her.  Pat purchased her first record player from
there and paid $49.

  Many people rented apartments there.  At one time, one of my sisters rented one of the top apartments there.
So, I was in and out of the building quite a bit.

   There area a lot of people alive who rented apartments there.  The building was razed in the fall of 1978
and is now being used for employee parking for Citizen's National Bank and Burns and Eustice.  -Onaway Outlook, February 17, 2012 pg. 3.
  
  

 
  
Retyped by J. Anderson.