Between 8th and 9th Street

Woodward was originally two seperate cities: Woodward and New Denver. Woodward and New Denver were independently surveyed by two different people, and the survey lines did not match. When the two cities later merged, city leaders did not think a new survey was necessary, resulting in the curve in Main Street at 8th Street. This rough outline gives ashort history of the block of Main Street between 8th & 9th.

1903
Fire destroyed the southeast section of the block. This would have been the area from The Gazebo to The Mercantile.

1918
The Woodward Hospital was located where the Masonic Hall is now.

1947
Tornado damage is visible on many of the buildings. Restorations to the brickwork of these downtown buildings caused different colors of masonry on the various facades. This is seen on The Mercantile and the empty building that once housed J.C. Penny.

Most of the buildings had finials before the tornado, however were not replaced when the buildings were repaired. The Hopkins shoe building included one at the corner.

Fire destroyed the southwest corner of the block in October 1947. Restoration of the tornado damage was almost complete by the time of the fire.

1972
Fire once again destroyed the southwest corner of the block in April 1972.

The old Bank of Woodward building was the location of the John Jennings-Temple Houston shooting. The Peek-a-Boo building, now the location of the Opera House, was where Houston gave his famous "Soiled Dove" speech.

The building that now houses Sharp's Department Store was at one time a three -story store owned by Gerlach and Hopkins. It featured a rotunda complete with a skylight at the top. The blue tile on the Master's Hands Craft Shop building is from Italy and is extremely valuable.