314 Shelden Avenue & 314 East Lakeshore Drive
Swift's Hardware store moved locations in 1989. The original building is now home to The Marketplace.
The I.E. Swift building on Shelden Avenue, known today as The Marketplace, was built in 1910 by William Swift to sell supplies to the local mining industry. Swift, a former lawyer, was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1880. He established the initial business in Ishpeming in 1869 and named the store for his wife, Ida Euphoria Swift. The Houghton store was its second location, built when the company expanded from industrial sales to include retail. The old Swift building rests upon a stone foundation with a cement basement. The four-story building was constructed with brick walls and a steel frame. Its interior is finished with hardwood floors, electric lighting, a glass storefront, and plaster w ith pine trim.
In 1911, the company built a large warehouse to the north of the store. The warehouses’ location on the waterfront — near the railroad and behind the store — allowed for bulk goods to be received by water and train and then delivered directly into the store. The brick warehouse was topped with a gable-galvanized roof. It had no basement, plumbing, or heating, as it was meant solely to store bulk hardware goods. Inside it had a cement floor and electric lighting.
William Swift ran the I.E. Swift Co. until he retired in 1946, when his son, Paul, took over. The store is currently run by William Swift’s granddaughter, Marilyn. In 1989, the business moved one block east and the original building was divided into several stores and named The Marketplace. Swift’s has expanded its inventory and now sells hardware, garden supplies, and household goods — even toys! The warehouse, which still displays an old I.E. Swift ad on the west side of the building, was converted into residential apartments.
Sources: Jaehnig, G. (2019, August 6). Swift Hardware celebrates 150th. The Daily Mining Gazette.; O’Connor, M. (2019b, May 21). Swift True Value Hardware serves community for 150 years. TV 6. State; Tax Commission (1937) from the MTU Archives; Perkins, C. (1989, February 1). Three Houghton businesses moving. Mining Gazette, p. 8.; Helminski, B. & Boldrey, M. (2000, May 12) SS422 - Term Project. Report prepared for SS 422 History of American Architecture at Michigan Technological University; Image: University Archives and Historical Collections No. MS042-049-999-U811A