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Hi Ellen,
I am a former resident of Middleville, MI (now reside in Arizona) and was president of the Thornapple Heritage Association from 1997 to 2002. The hotel destroyed by fire that you are referring to was the Middleville Hotel, located on the south side of Main Street in the downtown business district. This two-story hotel was destroyed by fire on January 4, 1981. It was built in 1915, remodeled in 1973, and consisted of a nine-room hotel, a three-bedroom apartment, the Copper Door Restaurant (located in the basement), Vic's Repair Shop, and Schondelmayer's Barber Shop. At the time of the fire, the hotel building was owned by Dennis Parker. The hotel site is now a vacant lot, located between Champ's Bar & Grill and the Village's Municipal Offices (formerly the offices of Bradford-White Corp.). The site had consisted of a hotel since 1852; as the Exchange Hotel (aka Johnson House), destroyed by fire in 1876; as the St. James Hotel, destroyed by fire on March 16, 1913.
The Dibble Hotel (aka Dibble House) that you referred to was located at the northwest corner of Main and Church Streets along the eastern portion of the business district. It was a two-story combined rooming and boarding house owned by Benjamin S. Dibble (1812-1880) during the mid 1800s. Prior to moving to Middleville, Mr. Dibble was an 1836 pioneer settler in nearby Yankee Springs Township, where he owned a 320-acre farm and a tavern known as the "Silver Creek House." My information on the pioneer Dibble family (including wife Sarah G., and sons James T. & William B. - the latter owned a mercantile business in Middleville before moving to Kasson, MN during the mid 1870s) is sketchy; if you have additional info on this family, I would greatly appreciate it if you could send it to me.
Hope this helps,
Gary Finkbeiner
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