54 South Main St.
East side of street
This building the first Baptist Church was built circa 1847 for the congregation first organized in 1843 by Rev. Asahel Keith. Meetings prior to that date were held in the schoolhouse. Originally built as a Greek Revival style with the imposing street facing pediment interrupted with a belfry. According to church records, in 1892 horse sheds were built on the southeast corner of the property. In 1912 an addition to the east was constructed. While history has it that the belfry was an original part of the building, the belfry details visible today are of a later style, Italian Revival. Note the round arch windows and belfry opening, and brackets all typical of the Italian Revival style. (See circa 1900 photo, Heritage, pg.27) . Changes were made to the belfry in 1938 when the graceful arch of the belfry opening and ironwork at the top were removed. In the 1930s a concrete block foundation replaced the original stacked stone. The vestibule entrance on the northwest corner was added about 1950. Aluminum siding covered the original wood clapboard until renovation was undertaken to convert the building for its current use as the Clarkston Union Bar and Kitchen.
Official Property Description:
- Lot 7 Block 8 of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village in the Southeast 14 of Section 20 in Independence Towhship
- Lot 61 of the Assessor's Plat.
Significant Property History:
- 1831 United States to Butler Holcomb.
- 1833 Butler Holcomb & wife, Mary, To Roswell/Roosevelt Holcomb, the west 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 20.
- 1833 Butler Holcomb & wife, Mary, To Roswell/Roosevelt Holcomb, and wife, Elvine Holcomb, and Daniel B. Holcomb and wife, Alimir, to Jeremiah Clark III, the south part of the west 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 20.
- 1839 Jeremiah Clark III to Nelson Washington Clark, the undivided 1/2 of the west 1/2 of the southeast 1/4 of Section 20 commencing.......
- 1842 Jeremiah Clark III & wife, Polly, to Nelson W. Clark, the south part of the west 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 20. Also other land.
- 1842 Jeremiah Clark III & Nelson W. Clark to Village of Clarkston (Original plat of the Village).
- 1846 Jeremiah Brown, Lot 7 Block 8, assessed value $25.
- Further History Compilation Missing At Present
Architecture Style:
Historic District Commission Documents:
