Daniel F. Comstock (1831-1903), a lumberman and president of Mecosta County Savings Bank, began erecting this building in 1885 to house stores, a hotel, and the bank. When the bank failed in 1896, Comstock lost all of his assets, including the unfinished structure. In 1900 retired newspaper publisher William Nisbett (1846-1923) bought the block. He completed the massive, decorative exterior — with its rough-cut granite, elaborate parapets, and heavy Romanesque columns — in 1906.