A horse team and sleigh wait outside the E. A. McPhail Department Store on Omer’s dirt main street, in a photo labeled circa 1900. At right, the brick building is painted “Arenac Exchange Bank,” showing how closely shopping and banking sat side by side in a small Michigan town.
A late-1800s Arenac County atlas even lists the Arenac Exchange Bank in Omer with McPhail & Macomber as proprietors, matching what we see on the storefronts here. Another Arenac County Historical Society index later names both the bank and E. A. McPhail in local records.
Do you know what street this was—or have family stories tied to McPhail, Macomber, or the old bank?
#OmerMichigan #ArenacCounty #MichiganHistory #VintageMichigan #OldMichigan
