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The Alma Downtown Historic District is a commercial historic district in Alma, Michigan, roughly located along Superior Street between the Pine River and Prospect Avenue, and along State Street between Center and Downie Streets.〔 Parts of the district were designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Alma Downtown Historic District )〕 and the entirety was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.〔 It contains 72 structures, primarily brick commercial buildings, ranging from one to three stories in height and dating from 1874 (and likely earlier) to the 1960s.〔 ==History== In 1853/54, General Ralph Ely purchased land along the Pine River and settled there with his wife and children. He erected a mill and a settlement, "Elyton," sprang up in the area. In 1858, James Gargett platted a larger nearby area and dubbed it "Alma." Both Alma and Elyton increased in size, and were soon combined under the name of Alma. Alma had seventy residents by 1860, which increased to 404 in 1870, 467 in 1880, and 1,665 in 1890. Alma grew rapidly in the latter part of the 19th century in large part due to the local lumber industry, but also due to the agricultural prosperity of the region.〔 The first commercial building in Alma was constructed in the late 1850s by General Ely; by 1884 the Alma commercial district encompassed the heart of what is now the Alma Downtown Historic District: Superior Street from just east of Woodworth to a point west of State Street, and another half-block both north and south along State. All but three of these buildings were wooden; the very first brick commercial building in Alma was built in 1875, the second was the grand 1880 Wright Opera House Block, and the third was the nearby 1883 Wright Hotel (now demolished). These last two buildings were constructed by Ammi Williard Wright, a lumberman who adopted Alma as his base of operations.〔 Wright has a large influence on the development of the district, not only because he was directly responsible for some of the most important structures in the district (in addition to the Opera House, Wright built the First State Bank Building, the original Masonic Home/Sanitarium, and his personal residence), but also because he established some of the largest businesses and industries in Alma in the late 19th and early 20th century. These included constructed the Alma Roller Mills in 1881, the Wright House hotel in 1883, the First State Bank of Alma in 1883, the Alma Springs Sanitarium in 1885, the Alma Sugar Company plant in 1899, the Alma Manufacturing Company gasoline engine plant in 1903, and the Central Michigan Produce Company in 1905. Due in large part to the growth of the city, more buildings were constructed in the district in the 1890s, most of which were brick and stone.〔 By 1902, the two-block heart of the district along Superior between State and Gratiot was nearly all filled in with masonry structures. Alma grew rapidly at the beginning of the 20th century, with a population of 2,757 in 1910 and 7,542 in 1920.〔 The boom was in large part due to the increase in the industrial base, with agricultural firms such as the Central Michigan Produce Company, the Alma Sugar Company, and the Libby, McNeill, and Libby pickle canning plant opening. In addition, the founding of the Republic Motor Truck Company in 1913, and its subsequent expansion to support World War I production, drove the increase in Alma's fortunes. The commercial district followed suit, extending its boundaries both east and west along Superior, as well as south along State, as more structures were built. However, after the war, production of trucks and Republic's sales decreased dramatically, and as the company's prospects fizzled, Alma's population plateaued.〔 Further growth did not occur until after World War II, when more manufacturing moved into the area. The commercial district saw some additional construction, although the size of the district remained substantially as it was in 1920. More significantly, there were substantial facade modernizations during the 1960s throughout the district. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alma Downtown Historic District」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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