This was a notable 19th Century manufacturing business formed in 1870 to produce an innovative zinc lined pads for horse harnesses that prevents neck and shoulder chaffing.

History and Invention

The Invention. Dexter Curtis invented the zinc lined horse collar pad in 1870 to solve the common issue of draft hose neck and shoulder chaffing.

Early Partnership

Curtis teamed up with George Richards and Henry Gilman to form the firm Curtis, Gilman, and Richards to release the the first popular horse pad

Company Growth The firm was renamed the Zinc Collar Pad Company in 1871. The booming business used over 400,000 pound of zinc in 2 years.

The original factory burned down in 1874.

The partners rebuilt the brick structure at the South Oak Street location. It was built as a 2 story red brick structure.

The 1875 Zinc Collar Pad Company never experienced a permanent closure of its physical doors all at one.,but rather transitioned through distinct stages of industrial relocation, residential use, and ultimate vacancy.

Timeline of Buildings Transitions

1913 (Factory Relocation) The Zinc Collar Pad Company outgrew the Oak Street facility and moved its operations to a larger on Main Street. ( The company itself went defunct by 1927 due to declining post World War Ireland for horse collars)

1914 to late 1990s (Apartment conversions). After the factory relocated, the building was sold to local business partners who converted the building into 4 residential apartments. It served as an apartment building for 80 years.

1998 (Final Vacancy). The building officially became vacant around 1998. It has empty ever since

This mill was built between 1857 and 1858. It is a wood framed structure. It is the only surviving mill of the thirteen water powered mills that operated on McCoy Creek.

Pears Mill was originally built and used as a water powered flour mill to grind wheat and grain for local farmers. It was in continuous commercial operation for 126 years running from its construction in 1857 until it closed in 1983.

Over its active life it passed through several individual owners, business partnerships, and agriculture cooperatives.

The early pioneers (1857–1864)

William Beach owned the initial plot of land where construction started

William Haunting built the mil!. He operated it during its most profitable early years turning it into the largest industry in Beaten County by 1860

Ross, Pears and Clark. Beach sold the Mill to this investment trio in 1863.

The namesake era (1864-1933)

Rough and Pears in 1864 purchased the mill

Rough Brothers an L.P. Fox taken over by David’s brothers in partnership with local operator L.P. Fox

Woomer and House/J.M. Sheldon The Mill went through minor transitional owners and experienced a six year shut down due to an estate and title dispute.

Pears-East Grain Company The Pears family legacy line red acquired corporate interest in the mill running it up until the Great Depression

This building was built in 1866 by John Ross and Thomas R. Fulton to house the original banking enterprise before it succeeded to the First National Bank. This building is a stop on the architectural heritage Walking tour of Buchanan.

The building style is Italianate

Features of Italianate style

Tall Windows

Arched window tops

Cast iron or stone trim

Flat roog

Russe

Russel Goodrich was an early New Buffalo settler. In 1836, he established the area’s first inn . The site is where Casey’s Bar and Grill is currently located. The building was a rough hewn wood frame or log structure.

. It was built strictly for utility to house pioneer families. There was a rustic communal dining area, basic sleep quarters heated by a central fire place, and an.outside stable for horsers.

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In 1977, Roger Brown purchased a property in New Buffalo , Michigan, a beach community east of Chicago. He commissioned his partner, George Veronda, to design a home and studio. It was completed in.1979. The Veronda Pavilion, a residence, and the Roger Brown studio and guest house. They are steel and glass modernist structures tucked into a secluded dunes landscape between the Galien River and the Beachfront Road.

     Legacy Trail Clark Street Bridge passenger bridge is located where the Legacy Trail crosses over Clark Street in Sarasota. The bridge structure and its ramps stretch for about a quarter of a mile. It completely separates people on foot or bicycles from heavy car traffic on the roadway below. The bridge opened to pedestrians and cyclists on July 2, 2025.  It was designed by civil and structural engineering teams working  for the Florida Department of Transportation.