408 North Ann Arbor Street

1994 Survey Photo by Kosky & Glynn Associates
Copyright held by the City of Saline

Photo by Lori Swick
February 2013

Architectural Description: This is a one-and-one-half story, doubled-gabled Tudor Revival style house with an octagon window in the upper peak. The house has been renovated since the 1994 survey photo with new windows and siding. The octagon window replaced the previous octagon shaped cutout with the letter F. Behind the house is a two-story gambrel roof barn with a metal roof. The barn has also been updated since the survey photo with new siding.

History: John Feuerbacher Sr., who was a blacksmith by trade, emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in the mid-1880s. It was he who owned this property and the property next door, just north of the railroad tracks where his blacksmith and welding shop once stood (Shackman). The following is an excerpt from the Saline Observer, dated July 11, 1895:

      “One of the most busy branches of industry of the north side of our village is the blacksmith shop of John Feuerbacher. This shop is intended to meet the wants of the public in general. Mr. F. is a skilled workman and treats the repairing of machinery, wagons, carriages, sleighs etc. with promptness. He is always at his post and ready for business. He is an able man in horseshoeing, the care of lame horses being one of his special callings. In this line, he is crowded with work most of the time, which speaks for itself of his skill.”

John Feuerbacher and son, Edward, in front of their blacksmith and welding shop (ca. 1910). This is in the location where Carquest Autoparts is now located on North Ann Arbor Street. Photo Courtesy of Saline Area Historical Society

John Feuerbacher's son and daughter-in-law, Edward and Vadah Feuerbacher, built the existing house at 408 North Ann Arbor Street in 1942.

Sources:
"Historic District Study Committee Report of North Ann Arbor Street Local Historic District." 2004.

Kosky & Glynn Associates. "Historical and Architectural Survey." Saline, Michigan. 1994

Saline Observer, July 11, 1895. Clark Historical Library Newspaper Collection. http://condor.cmich.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15076coll5.

Shackman, Grace. " The Saline Railroad Depot." Ann Arbor Community Observer, 2006. http://aaobserver.aadl.org/aaobserver/36249

Suggested Reading:
McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester.   A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1984.

Prepared by Lori Swick
April 17, 2013