Ladies' Literary Club Building

{{for multi|the building in Grand Rapids, Michigan |Ladies' Literary Club|the building in Salt Lake City, Utah |Ladies Literary Club Clubhouse}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Ladies' Literary Club Building

| nrhp_type =

| image = Arden H. Ballard House 089694pu-adjusted.jpg

| caption = Front elevation, 1936

| location = 218 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti, Michigan

| coordinates = {{coord|42|14|40|N|83|36|51|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Michigan#USA

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-marker = building

| mapframe-zoom = 12

| mapframe-caption = Interactive map

| built = {{Start date|1843}}

| builder = Arden Ballard

| architecture = Greek Revival

| added = March 16, 1972

| area = less than one acre

| refnum = 72000666{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

| designated_other1 = Michigan State Historic Site

| designated_other1_date = May 12, 1965

| designated_other1_number =

| designated_other1_num_position = bottom

}}

The Ladies' Literary Club Building, also known as the William M. Davis House or the Arden H. Ballard House, was built as a private home, and is currently used as the meeting place for the Ladies' Literary Club. It is located at 218 North Washington Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Early history

The Ladies' Literary Club Building was built in approximately 1843 as a home for William M. Davis.{{cite web|url= http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/2239.htm|title= Davis, William M., House|publisher= Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online|accessdate= January 28, 2013|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130421235152/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/2239.htm|archive-date= April 21, 2013|url-status= dead}} It was likely designed by Arden H. Ballard and built by his firm of Norris, Cross, and Ballard.{{citation | title = Ladies Literary Club, HABS No, Mich. -14 | publisher = Historic American Buildings Survey | date = September 3, 1936 | url = http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/mi/mi0000/mi0071/data/mi0071data.pdf}} At some point, it was sold to Elijah Grant, who operated a local dry goods store.{{citation | title = Ypsilanti: A History in Pictures | author = James Thomas Mann |publisher = Arcadia Publishing | year = 2002 | isbn = 9780738519951 | pages = 32–33 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U13lW6XhZPEC&pg=PA32}} When Grant died in 1851, his wife Mary and son Edward continued to live in the house. Mary died in 1883, and Edward continued to live in the house, his fortune slowly diminishing through a series of bad investments. He eventually began selling the furnishings, and in 1913 sold the house itself. The Ladies' Literary Club purchased the property to use as their meeting hall.

Ladies' Literary Club

The Ladies' Literary Club of Ypsilanti was founded in 1878 by Sarah Smith Putnam, with 17 members.{{citation | title = The Ladies' Literary Club, Ypsilanti, Michigan - 125 Years: 1878–2003 | author1 = Penny Schreiber | author2 = Lu Lu Carpenter Skinner | author3 = Jeanne Jordan | author4 = Mary Claire Anhut | author5 = Carolyn Kirkendall | author6 = Helen J. Cleary | publisher = Ladies’ Literary Club | year = 2004 | url = http://ladiesliteraryclub.org/Ladies%20Lit%20Club%20Book.pdf}}{{Cite news |last=Porter |first=Peg |date=Winter 2013 |title=The Ladies Buy a House - A Centennial Celebration |url=https://aadl.org/ypsigleanings/253927 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |work=Ypsilanti Gleanings |publisher=Ypsilanti Historical Society |via=Ann Arbor District Library}} The club functioned as a learning society. Since learning opportunities for women remained few clubwomen developed courses of study in various historical topics from the French Revolution to early Greek and Roman societies. The club membership quickly expanded, and they held bi-monthly meetings at the homes of members or in the library. However, by 1910, the club had grown large enough that they needed to rent rooms in the Masonic temple. When the Davis House was put up for sale in 1913, the Club purchased it for $3000. The first meeting in the house was in October 1914.

The interior of the building was later refurbished under the oversight of architect Emil Lorch. In the 1930s, Lorch helped the structure become a part of the Historic American Buildings Survey "because of its age and architectural interest as being worthy of most careful preservation for future generations." More remodeling was done in 1955, and an addition was built to the rear of the building in 1971–72.

Description

The Ladies' Literary Club Building is a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story rectangular brick Greek Revival house. The temple front boasts a wooden tetrastyle Doric portico with a triangular pediment above. A single story wooden wing sits to one side. Grills are placed along the frieze.