The Crofoot
Encyclopedia
The Crofoot is a mixed-use independent entertainment complex made up of 4 unique buildings ( The Crofoot building, The Pike Street building, The Vernors building, and the Eagle Theater). The complex contains 5 rooms for live music, each with a private entrance. The Crofoot is a busy concert venue for popular music acts, and other larger private events or festivals which combine the multiple rooms for different distinct atmospheres. All-age shows as well as adult-only concerts are held; Pontiac, Michigan
.
created double peninsula where it snaked through what would become downtown Pontiac. The Pontiac Commercial Historic District is located just north of where the Saginaw Trail crossed the Clinton River. Historically, the business district of Pontiac was centered at the intersection of Pike and Saginaw.
On April 30, 1840, the entire commercial district on both sides of Saginaw from Pike to Lawrence was leveled in a fire. In response to this event, all new buildings were subsequently built with masonry
construction. Between 1840 and the end of the Civil War
, many of the buildings along Saginaw were rebuilt.
In the early 1960s the entire area on the South West quadrant of Pike and Saginaw, and much of the historic property to the south of the Clinton River (Water Street), were demolished for urban renewal
. (Some members of the Oakland County Historic Society still refer to that area as “Hiroshima Flats”.)
The Crofoot Project has escaped both of these tragedies of Pontiac history. The building on the southeast corner of Pike and Saginaw was not burned down, and it was spared demolition in the 1970s. In 1882, it was rebuilt, re-using the existing foundations, floors and some walls.
Michael E. Crofoot, who named the subject property the “Crofoot Block”, was a vigorous and active man whose life epitomized the development of Pontiac after its 1818 founding, in the Civil War era, prior to the rapid growth from the expansion of the automobile industry.
Michael E. Crofoot was a prominent businessman, attorney, Judge of Oakland County Probate Court from 1849 to 1856, and a man involved in Oakland County, Michigan and national affairs. He was a delegate to the 1856 Democratic National Convention
. After the Civil War, he was selected in 1865 to represent Oakland County in raising subscriptions for the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
in downtown Detroit. He lived three blocks up the hill on Williams Street, where his home was one of nine Pontiac landmarks featured on an 1867 “Birds Eye View of Pontiac” by Albert Ruger. He was on the State Building Commission for the State Asylum in 1874, which was completed in Pontiac in 1878. He represented a defendant in 1882 before the United States Supreme Court. He rebuilt the 1830 era building at Pontiac’s first corner in 1882 and named it the “Crofoot Block”. He practiced law on the 3rd floor, overlooking from his 10-foot by 10 feet (3 m) north-facing window the rapid growth of Pontiac’s Downtown Commercial District.
Pontiac’s Crofoot School was named after this prominent family, and is still in use.
The Crofoot Project, consisting of three adjacent buildings—the Crofoot Building, the Vernor's Building, and the New Crofoot Block—is a unique contributor to the local Pontiac Commercial Historic District.
The Crofoot Building, located at the crossroads of Pontiac's original 1818 plot, has anchored the Southeast quadrant of Pontiac since 1882. The building's central tower once displayed, in raised masonry letters, the name of its builders, the locally prominent Crofoot family. The Crofoot Building's three 20 feet (6.1 m) bays and two stories of street-level store and second-floor office uses originally formed and still retain the urban pattern of 19th century Pontiac. Facade remodelings and occupant turnovers have little changed this pattern of uses. The Crofoot Building's street level has housed barbers, meat markets, an American Express
office, saloons, lunch rooms, shoe stores and millinery shops; while the second floor has housed photographers, land developers, tailors, insurance agencies, and attorneys. The third floor (no longer extant) once housed Judge Michael E. Crofoot's legal offices.
The Crofoot Building is arguably the largest physical survivor of Pontiac's original plat and of its brick nineteenth century architecture. The building has outlasted both of the 1920s expansive remodeling boom and the 1970s demolitions in the name of urban renewal.
The Vernor's Building illustrates another thread in downtown Pontiac's urban formation: the single 20 feet (6.1 m) Victorian facade completely remodeled in the 1920s boom. The Vernor's Building originally shared a similar Victorian facade with the Crofoot Building: open storefronts at street level, a brick second floor pierced by windows, and a third-floor, full-height mansard roof (Photo 3). In 1926, the building was remodeled to house a Vernor's Ginger Ale Soda Fountain; and its distinct brick second-floor was obliterated in a quickening of urban intensity, to form a two-level open storefront (Photo 2 ). Its mansard roof was extant until at least 1935; it was lost sometime after, perhaps when the Crofoot Building lost its third-floor mansard roof and tower. The Vernor's Soda Fountain remained at this address for at least twenty years.
The New Crofoot Block dates not from Victorian downtown Pontiac, but from the expansive automobile-manufacturing Pontiac of the early twentieth century. The New Crofoot Block occupies the rear of Lot 59, the original rear yard of the Crofoot Building, which was earlier occupied by a service barn. By c. 1912, this rear yard had become too valuable for such a use, and a new two-story and basement structure was built, filling the lot. The building's street level had four 17 feet (5.2 m) storefronts facing Pike Street, and the second floor had office space accessible through the original Crofoot Building. The Pontiac City Directory referred to these second-floor offices as "The New Crofoot Block".
The architecture of the new building was a business-like and contemporary, rather than an attempt to emulate its Victorian namesake. The new facade emphasized its large window openings on both floors, surrounding them with a dark cider-colored brick frame, trimmed with limestone, and iced on the top with a pressed-metal entablature.
These three adjacent buildings, despite their different origins, were joined together sometime after World War II. Their heights were equalized, their second-floor windows were ruthlessly reset, and their combined street facades were wrapped in a skin of porcelain-metal panels (Photos 6,7), exemplifying another stage in the development of downtown Pontiac.
The Crofoot Project is a unique contributor to the local Pontiac Commercial Historic District because: 1) it is an assemblage of three distinct adjoining buildings that exemplify three threads in the development of the District; 2) the Crofoot Building is unique in its crossroads location, its size, footprint, and date in the District; 3) the three buildings have survived with their footprints intact; 4) the three buildings have retained their historic and urban layering of street-level retail and second-floor office uses; and 5) all three buildings have retained large portions of their historic exterior integrity.
, Bill Cosby
, John Waters (filmmaker)
, and shows from Jimmy Eat World
, Curbstone Beauty, Deadmau5
, The National (band)
, Girl Talk
, The New Pornographers
, Owl City
, Sufjan Stevens
, Will Oldham
, Above and Beyond
, Craig Owens (musician)
, Stars, Paul Van Dyk
, Band of Horses
, Vampire Weekend
, 3OH!3
, Bon Iver
, King Crimson
, Trevor Dunn
, St. Vincent
, The Avett Brothers
, Allan James and the Cold Wave, Public Image Ltd.
, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
, EELS (band)
, and Flyleaf
.
Michigan°N date=December 2010°W
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
.
History
Pontiac is the first inland city of Michigan. The Pontiac Company plotted it in 1818 where the Saginaw Indian Trail (Woodward Avenue) crossed the Schiawassee Indian Trail (Orchard Lake Road). The Clinton RiverClinton River
The Clinton River is a river in southeastern Michigan in the United States.The main branch of the river rises from wetlands in Springfield Township, Oakland County, northwest of Pontiac. A series of dams create a number of small lakes west of Pontiac, the last of which is Dawson's Millpond. The...
created double peninsula where it snaked through what would become downtown Pontiac. The Pontiac Commercial Historic District is located just north of where the Saginaw Trail crossed the Clinton River. Historically, the business district of Pontiac was centered at the intersection of Pike and Saginaw.
On April 30, 1840, the entire commercial district on both sides of Saginaw from Pike to Lawrence was leveled in a fire. In response to this event, all new buildings were subsequently built with masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
construction. Between 1840 and the end of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, many of the buildings along Saginaw were rebuilt.
In the early 1960s the entire area on the South West quadrant of Pike and Saginaw, and much of the historic property to the south of the Clinton River (Water Street), were demolished for urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
. (Some members of the Oakland County Historic Society still refer to that area as “Hiroshima Flats”.)
Michael E. Crofoot, who named the subject property the “Crofoot Block”, was a vigorous and active man whose life epitomized the development of Pontiac after its 1818 founding, in the Civil War era, prior to the rapid growth from the expansion of the automobile industry.
Michael E. Crofoot was a prominent businessman, attorney, Judge of Oakland County Probate Court from 1849 to 1856, and a man involved in Oakland County, Michigan and national affairs. He was a delegate to the 1856 Democratic National Convention
1856 Democratic National Convention
The 1856 Democratic National Convention, held at Smith & Nixon's Hall in Cincinnati was the first national party nominating convention to be held outside the original thirteen states. Called to order at Noon on Monday June 2 by National Committee chair Robert McLane, Samuel Medary was made the...
. After the Civil War, he was selected in 1865 to represent Oakland County in raising subscriptions for the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
The Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a Civil War monument located in Detroit, Michigan. This example of civic sculpture stands in a prominent downtown location on the southeast tip of Campus Martius Park where five principal thoroughfares -- Michigan Avenue, Monroe Street, Cadillac...
in downtown Detroit. He lived three blocks up the hill on Williams Street, where his home was one of nine Pontiac landmarks featured on an 1867 “Birds Eye View of Pontiac” by Albert Ruger. He was on the State Building Commission for the State Asylum in 1874, which was completed in Pontiac in 1878. He represented a defendant in 1882 before the United States Supreme Court. He rebuilt the 1830 era building at Pontiac’s first corner in 1882 and named it the “Crofoot Block”. He practiced law on the 3rd floor, overlooking from his 10-foot by 10 feet (3 m) north-facing window the rapid growth of Pontiac’s Downtown Commercial District.
Pontiac’s Crofoot School was named after this prominent family, and is still in use.
The Crofoot Project, consisting of three adjacent buildings—the Crofoot Building, the Vernor's Building, and the New Crofoot Block—is a unique contributor to the local Pontiac Commercial Historic District.
The Crofoot Building, located at the crossroads of Pontiac's original 1818 plot, has anchored the Southeast quadrant of Pontiac since 1882. The building's central tower once displayed, in raised masonry letters, the name of its builders, the locally prominent Crofoot family. The Crofoot Building's three 20 feet (6.1 m) bays and two stories of street-level store and second-floor office uses originally formed and still retain the urban pattern of 19th century Pontiac. Facade remodelings and occupant turnovers have little changed this pattern of uses. The Crofoot Building's street level has housed barbers, meat markets, an American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
office, saloons, lunch rooms, shoe stores and millinery shops; while the second floor has housed photographers, land developers, tailors, insurance agencies, and attorneys. The third floor (no longer extant) once housed Judge Michael E. Crofoot's legal offices.
The Crofoot Building is arguably the largest physical survivor of Pontiac's original plat and of its brick nineteenth century architecture. The building has outlasted both of the 1920s expansive remodeling boom and the 1970s demolitions in the name of urban renewal.
The Vernor's Building illustrates another thread in downtown Pontiac's urban formation: the single 20 feet (6.1 m) Victorian facade completely remodeled in the 1920s boom. The Vernor's Building originally shared a similar Victorian facade with the Crofoot Building: open storefronts at street level, a brick second floor pierced by windows, and a third-floor, full-height mansard roof (Photo 3). In 1926, the building was remodeled to house a Vernor's Ginger Ale Soda Fountain; and its distinct brick second-floor was obliterated in a quickening of urban intensity, to form a two-level open storefront (Photo 2 ). Its mansard roof was extant until at least 1935; it was lost sometime after, perhaps when the Crofoot Building lost its third-floor mansard roof and tower. The Vernor's Soda Fountain remained at this address for at least twenty years.
The New Crofoot Block dates not from Victorian downtown Pontiac, but from the expansive automobile-manufacturing Pontiac of the early twentieth century. The New Crofoot Block occupies the rear of Lot 59, the original rear yard of the Crofoot Building, which was earlier occupied by a service barn. By c. 1912, this rear yard had become too valuable for such a use, and a new two-story and basement structure was built, filling the lot. The building's street level had four 17 feet (5.2 m) storefronts facing Pike Street, and the second floor had office space accessible through the original Crofoot Building. The Pontiac City Directory referred to these second-floor offices as "The New Crofoot Block".
The architecture of the new building was a business-like and contemporary, rather than an attempt to emulate its Victorian namesake. The new facade emphasized its large window openings on both floors, surrounding them with a dark cider-colored brick frame, trimmed with limestone, and iced on the top with a pressed-metal entablature.
These three adjacent buildings, despite their different origins, were joined together sometime after World War II. Their heights were equalized, their second-floor windows were ruthlessly reset, and their combined street facades were wrapped in a skin of porcelain-metal panels (Photos 6,7), exemplifying another stage in the development of downtown Pontiac.
The Crofoot Project is a unique contributor to the local Pontiac Commercial Historic District because: 1) it is an assemblage of three distinct adjoining buildings that exemplify three threads in the development of the District; 2) the Crofoot Building is unique in its crossroads location, its size, footprint, and date in the District; 3) the three buildings have survived with their footprints intact; 4) the three buildings have retained their historic and urban layering of street-level retail and second-floor office uses; and 5) all three buildings have retained large portions of their historic exterior integrity.
Crofoot Today
As recently as 2005, the City of Pontiac had condemned this property, and scheduled it for demolition. In 2006 a local developer began the renovation of this important Pontiac landmark. On Sept 7, 2007 the doors to The Crofoot reopened as a new home for music & art in Metro Detroit. The building features a state-of-the-art sound system, and much of the original historical integrity remains. The Crofoot has played host to countless live events and gatherings, including appearances by Michelle ObamaMichelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, John Waters (filmmaker)
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
, and shows from Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
, Curbstone Beauty, Deadmau5
Deadmau5
Joel Thomas Zimmerman , better known by his stage name deadmau5 , is a Canadian progressive, electro, and house producer based in Toronto...
, The National (band)
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
, Girl Talk
Girl Talk (musician)
Gregg Michael Gillis , better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released five LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on 333 and 12 Apostles....
, The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
, Owl City
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement...
, Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
, Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...
, Above and Beyond
Above & Beyond (band)
Above & Beyond are a British trance music group formed in 2000 and consists of the members Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Finnish Paavo Siljamäki. They have their own record label Anjunabeats, which releases trance and progressive music, and they also host their own weekly radio show Trance...
, Craig Owens (musician)
Craig Owens (musician)
Craigery Michael "Craig" Owens is an American musician from Davison, Michigan. He is best known as the former lead vocalist of Chiodos and has had an involvement in various side projects such as Cinematic Sunrise, and the supergroup Isles & Glaciers...
, Stars, Paul Van Dyk
Paul van Dyk
Matthias Paul, better known by his stage name Paul van Dyk is a German Grammy Award-winning Electronic Dance Music DJ, musician and record producer...
, Band of Horses
Band of Horses
Band of Horses, originally briefly known as Horses, are an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle by Ben Bridwell. They have released three studio albums, the most recent and most successful of which is 2010's Grammy nominated Infinite Arms...
, Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...
, 3OH!3
3OH!3
3OH!3 is an American electro hop duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They are best known for their single "Don't Trust Me" from their album Want, which reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100...
, Bon Iver
Bon Iver
Bon Iver is a Grammy nominated folk band founded in 2007 by American indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. It includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was...
, King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, Trevor Dunn
Trevor Dunn
Trevor Roy Dunn is an American composer, bass guitarist and double bassist.Dunn came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. He has since worked in an array of musical styles, notably with singer and Mr...
, St. Vincent
Annie Clark
Annie Erin Clark is an American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who performs as St. Vincent. She was a member of The Polyphonic Spree and also part of Sufjan Stevens' touring band, prior to forming her own band....
, The Avett Brothers
The Avett Brothers
The Avett Brothers is a folk rock band from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett and Seth Avett, who play the banjo and guitar respectively, and Bob Crawford who plays the stand-up bass. Joe Kwon, cello, and Jacob Edwards, drums, are touring members of...
, Allan James and the Cold Wave, Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American band led by Alex Ebert, vocalist of the power pop group Ima Robot. Their first full-length recording, Up from Below, was released July 7, 2009, digitally and July 14, 2009, physically on Community Records...
, EELS (band)
Eels (band)
Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
, and Flyleaf
Flyleaf
Flyleaf is an American alternative metal band, formed in the Belton and Temple, Texas regions in 2000. The band has charted on mainstream rock, Christian pop and Christian metal genres. They performed around the United States in 2003 until releasing their eponymous debut album, Flyleaf, in 2005....
.
Michigan°N date=December 2010°W