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Vertin Gallery (Vertin Brothers Department Store)

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Vertin Brothers Department Store
1885; 1899–1900 addition, Charles W. Maass. 220 6th St.
  • (Photograph by Balthazar Korab)

In 1885 Austrian Americans John and Joseph Vertin opened their large two-story department store. Within fourteen years the successful mercantile establishment needed more space. Two additional brick stories were added to the building and extensive improvements made. Large windows, so prominent in Chicago where John Vertin traveled for business, pierce the variegated red and white, rough-cut and rubble Portage Entry sandstone lower exterior walls, permitting the full display of goods. The Vertin Brothers installed an innovative electrical and steam heating plant that heated their immense store, ran its elevators, cash and delivery system, and electric lights, and provided steam heat for the First National Bank and several other buildings. The former department store now serves as an art gallery with private working art studios on the upper floors.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "Vertin Gallery (Vertin Brothers Department Store)", [Calumet Township, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-HO17.4.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 485-485.

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