27 South Main St.

This large two story rusticated block building was constructed in 1910/11 for Henry L.("Hank") Garter who operated a hardware store here until his death in 1950. His wife, Grace I. Garter, then continued to own the building. In the 1950s Kelley's Hardware, then, by 1960, Bob's Hardware did business here. Auten Furniture, then the Clarkston Shoe Service, occupied the building in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By 1976 the building was vacant and in need of much repair and restoration. Historically a part of the Clarkston Mills property, Henry Brown was listed in the 1867 tax rolls for 20' on Main, north of Church St., "running west to the foundry property" which by 1869 belonged to Lee Bingham. In 1869 the assessed value of Henry Brown's property had risen from $60 to $100, then to $200 when J. W. Howe owned it in 1870. These assessed value increases seem to indicate the construction of a building or the improvement of an existing one. The 1872 Map of the Village has J. W. Howe as owner of a building with a rectangular footprint on the corner of the site at the time. In 1873, tax records listed the foundry, hardware and tinware store of Oliver A. ("C. O. D."- cash on delivery) Smith, at the back of this lot while the Howe Brothers had a store fronting Main St. Photos, circa 1900, show the wooden building on the site then. The Howes built the Italianate brick building, 5 S. Main, as their new location beginning 1878/79, but continued to own this property until 1911 when they sold to Henry Garter.