Maurice Shanahan House

Left click on any item below for a much larger version




Shanahan bio in Baxter

The photographs above were taken on December 2, 2009 by R. Kline and L. Rockwell.

Maurice Shanahan apparently participated in the Bissel sweeper fortune. He is shown with brother Robert, in a "collection of portraits of men prominent in business," in MI. The photos are undated. Maurice died on December 24, 1910.

At present, nothing is known about when the house was built, except that it was presumably built before 1909. The foundations of both the carriage house and the main house are made from large granite blocks, suggesting they were built in 1900 or before, when the transition to more use of concrete blocks began. Whether the hill the house sits on is natural or not is not known, but in any case, the house probably had a commanding view of Grand Rapids. It's likely that Plainfield Avenue was largely undeveloped when the house was built.

The house is located just north of Shanahan St. NE. The square house shown is just north of the Shanahan house, and is simply to show the age of the neighborhood.

The Shanahan Block, at 218-220 Plainfield Avenue, was owned by Maurice.

Robert Shanahad had a large house at 393 E. Fulton.

Left click on the images below for larger versions.

The house in the photo at the left, above, was apparently built in 1894, and shows that working for the GR & I paid well. Robert Shanahan bougthe the house in 1908, and died in 1922. The house exists in year 2012, but appears to have been significantly modified on the exterior over the years, and as part of an instituion, who can tell what the inside looks like compared to the early years. For whatever reasons, people can rarely afford to own and maintain the large houses along Fulton any more, and those that do have the money apparently don't want to live in the area.