# Goodyear Block

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The **Goodyear Block**, also known as the **Arbeiter Block** is a commercial building located at 138 E. Main Street in [Manchester, Michigan](/source/Manchester,_Michigan), US. It was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) in 1993.[1]

## History

The Goodyear Block was built in 1867 by Chauncey Walbridge[2] for Henry Goodyear.[3] The two first-floor retail spaces were let out a hardware store operated by Miller & Webb, and a dry goods store operated by the Wastell Brothers.[4] The offices on the second floor were let out to numerous businesses, including the *Manchester Enterprise* newspaper.[4] The third-floor auditorium of the building was used for dances, plays, commencements, and concerts, all of which contributed to making downtown Manchester the social center of the area.[3] Goodyear, however, fell on hard times, lost control of his building, and moved to [Nebraska](/source/Nebraska).[5] In 1894, Goodyear's creditors sold the building to the Arbeiter Society (or "Arbeiter Verein"), a German club.[5] They ran it for 50 years;[6] the hall was used as a classroom in the 1930s.[7] The building was later used by the American Legion,[4] and eventually abandoned.[7] In 1977, it became the home of the Black Sheep Repertory Theater.[7] The building was rehabilitated in 1990, and the top floors turned into apartments.[5]

## Description

The Goodyear Block is a rectangular three-story [Italianate](/source/Italianate) commercial building constructed of red brick[3] on a fieldstone foundation.[2] The building is seven bays wide, with the central bay enclosing a staircase to the upper floors and the surrounding two sets of three bays each containing a storefront.[2] The first-floor facade has large display windows flanked by cast-iron columns; the appearance the first floor is the result of the 1990 restoration, but is similar to the original building construction. The front facade also features round headed windows capped with a keystone,[2] and is surmounted by a wooden cornice. Inside, the first floor is commercial space, the second floor is office space, and the third floor is given over to the auditorium.[3]

## References

1. Washtenaw County - Historic Preservation Program: Department of Planning and Environment (May 11, 2006), ["Historic District Study Committee Report - "Manchester Historic District: Exchange Place" - PRELIMINARY REPORT"](http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/community-and-economic-development/workforce-development/historic_preservation/exchange_place_prelim_report.pdf), Washtenaw County, Michigan[dead link]

1. ["Goodyear Block"](https://archive.today/20130421194404/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/17801.htm). Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from [the original](http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/17801.htm) on April 21, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.

1. Marie A. Schneider & Manchester Centennial Committee (1967), ["Manchester's first hundred years, 1867-1967"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100514175723/http://www.manchesterareahistoricalsociety.org/book/manchesters-first-hundred-years-1867-1967), Manchester Centennial Committee, archived from [the original](http://manchesterareahistoricalsociety.org/book/manchesters-first-hundred-years-1867-1967) on May 14, 2010

1. ["The Goodyear Block is being considered for Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places"](http://archive.lib.msu.edu/MMM/JT/05/w/jt05w013.pdf). *Manchester Enterprise*. April 1, 1993.

1. ["The Olio Curtain-Part One"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151220222341/http://manchesterareahistoricalsociety.org/circa/2009-02.pdf). *Circa Manchester*. Vol. 25, no. 1. Manchester Area Historical Society. February 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.manchesterareahistoricalsociety.org/circa/2009-02.pdf) on December 20, 2015.

1. Nina C.R. Henry & Robert Passey (1980), ["Ann Arbor annotated: a comprehensive guidebook"](https://books.google.com/books?id=XJzhAAAAMAAJ&q=%22the+black+sheep+theatre+building%22), p. 38

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