Historic Home Tour

Marshall Michigan

Bayberry  House Interiors
104 North Park Street

This fragment of the Isaac E. Crary home may be part of the oldest residence in Marshall.

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This fragment (the front was moved to 111 North Linden about 1912) of the Isaac E. Crary home may be part of the oldest residence in Marshall. Dating from about 1834, this portion was used as a private study and occasional living space for Crary who was a prominent attorney in Marshall as well as Michigan’s first congressman in 1837. Crary was a delegate to the 1835 convention that drafted Michigan’s first constitution. While the chairman of the Committee of Education, he drew up guidelines for a public school system, the appointment of a superintendent of public instruction and a comprehensive library system. Isaac Crary was a member of the State Board of Education until his death, May 8, 1854.

Over the next one hundred years, 108 N. Park was held by citizens make it their home or business until the early 1950s when it became vacant and remained so until 1972. At that time the Wirtz family began work on the exterior and the interior. Later the Minick family took over and in 1977 the interior design studio of Mrs. Minick operated from “The Crary fragment”. The two successive owners have been women with residential interior design practices; Susan Coolbaugh, of Susan’s Interiors, from 1984-88 and currently Janet Ostrum, since 1988.

Local efforts to preserve and renovate downtown business sites began in 1967 with a group of citizens working through a Chamber of Commerce restoration committee. Since that time, many downtown buildings have been preserved and are enjoyed and remembered by visitors to the community. 2001 brought the continuation of the Marshall grass roots preservation tradition, when Janet initiated a community wide endeavor culminating in Marshall being honored as one of the first four Michigan Main Street communities. Downtown revitalization continues through the Four Point Approach of Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization and Promotion set out by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

While you are our guest, please enjoy Marshall’s historic business district, its hospitable merchants and their unique offerings.

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