The Conner Building

The Conner name has been associated with this Plymouth site since the town’s earliest days. In 1857, Michael Conner arrived in Plymouth and bought the hardware business at this corner that C.H. Bennett had started. He replaced the original frame building in 1884 and again in 1898 with the present brick structure, which originally featured a decorative stone and brick balustrade above the corner turret and roofline. Conner’s store sold nearly everything except groceries and clothing, opened at 6 a.m., and seldom closed before 11 p.m. It became a popular evening gathering place for discussions of politics and current issues and served as headquarters for the local Democratic political party. Conner also served as Village President in 1868, 1884, and 1889, and he is credited with starting the first Plymouth band in the mid-1880s, playing the coronet himself. The diary of his daughter Mamie, also called Mary, records the social activities of early Plymouth life. After Michael Conner’s death in 1895, his son William continued the business until his own death in 1939. The Conner name still remains on the side brick wall along Penniman Avenue, and the building later became the final home of Cassady’s Dress Shop, operated by Norma Cassady from 1933 to 1966.

Plymouth, Michigan · United States