Text by Kolby and Rachel, Presque Isle Middle School students
Images from
The first marble works shop in Presque Isle was built and operated by Thomas B. Thompson in 1886. The marble shop created memorial works, including headstones and gravestones. After Thompson died in 1912, Frank Barney, his son, became the sole owner of the business. Barney’s daughter, Glenda, married Oscar Tagget, and Tagget became Barney’s partner in Thompson’s Memorial until his death in 1962. The building and business was sold in 1971 to Lee and John Somers. They renamed it the Presque Isle Memorial Works. In 1987, they relocated the business to a spot between Main and Park Street. The old building was sold to Joe Lockhart who opened Joe’s Second Hand Shop. In 1993, the building was sold to the Northeastland Hotel. In January 1994, after 108 years, the building was demolished for parking a parking lot for the Northeastland Hotel.
Sources:
Clark, Marilyn, Wm. Clark Ketcham, and Dale Steinhauer. City of Presque Isle 125th Historical Booklet. Vol. 125. Presque Isle: Booklet Committee, 1984.
Graves, Richard A. Forgotten Times: A Walk Through History. Presque Isle: Richard A. Graves, 2007.