Sundberg Block

About this property

The Sundberg Block was a commercial building located at 517–523 Iron Street in Negaunee, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It was later demolished in November 2016 and removed from the NRHP in 2020. Charles Sundberg was born on September 1, 1845, in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Gustave and Elizabeth Sundberg. He emigrated to the United States in 1864, settling first in Marquette, Michigan, and in 1869 moving to Negaunee. In 1870, Sundberg began in business as a jeweler and a wine and liquor retailer. The next year he began a short-lived partnership with a fellow Swede, August A. Anderson, opening a branch store in nearby Ishpeming. The partnership was dissolved in 1873, with Anderson taking over the Ishpeming store and Sundberg continuing as a jeweler and watchmaker in Negaunee. However, in 1871, Sundberg married Anderson's daughter Mary. The couple had five children, three of whom died in childhood; the two remaining were Ida and Eva. Sundberg dropped his liquor business in 1878, but his jewellery business continued until his death on October 1, 1899. In 1890, Sundberg purchased what was at the time the Jackson House hotel in Negaunee and tore it down. Sundberg hired John S. Mennie of Ishpeming to design a new three-story building on the site, and contractor E. E. Grip & Co., also from Ishpeming, to construct the building, which was completed in 1891. The building had three commercial spaces on the ground floor and office and apartment space above; the first three commercial tenants were Sundberg's own jewellery store, the A. T. Carmichael & Co. general store, and Katz Bros. dry goods. Tenants came and went over the years, with the building housing a series of dry goods stores, men's clothiers and other businesses including the local post office. Sundberg died in 1899, but his jewellery store continued in operation until 1908 when manager John F. Allison bought the remaining stock. The Sundberg heirs, however, still owned the building. Allison also owned a series of other stores located in the building, including a dry goods store and a pool hall. In 1907, Allison opened Negaunee's first movie theatre, the Electric, in the Sundberg block. The theatre closed soon after because of stiff competition, but a second theatre, the Bijou (later the Royal) opened later in 1907 and operated in the building until 1920. The Sundberg heirs continued to own the building until 1921, when the Negaunee Chamber of Commerce purchased it with the intention of refitting it as a manufacturing center to attract employers to the area. However, the building remained vacant until 1926, when Eisendrath Glove Company, a glove and mitten manufacturer, moved in. The company used the space until the mid-1930s, after which a series of garment and dress manufacturers used the building into the 1940s.

Location

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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