MARCH 29 ISSUE ANSWERS: It is 1838 and Romeo is an official village in the new state of Michigan. “By 1836 there were two hundred inhabitants in the village, thirty-four houses, seven barns, five stores and one church. In 1837 five hundred dollars was raised by taxes, in Romeo, for the purpose of building a new school. It was constructed, in 1838, on the same site as the earlier school, North Primary, but with the addition of more land. Built by Rix and Kidder for the sum of $750, it was to be 36 x 36 feet, erected on a stone wall two and one-half feet high, laid in lime mortar. The school was two stories high, with ten feet of clearance between floors. Teachers there the first year were F. K. Bailey and O. P. Southwell.” Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli In 1854 George Chandler moved the building to its present location and changed it to a duplex at 155-157 Church Street. The house was remodeled and the porch was added about 1914 by Lyman Holmes, President of the Holmes Foundry and State Senator. Beams under the home still have the bark on them. Caroline Kimball (1857-1932) talented artist and first art teacher lived in the home at one time. And by 1840, the village added 3 physicians, 3 dry goods stores, 2 wagon shops, a tailor, tinsmith, tanner, a foundry, cooperage, 2 carpenter shops, a chair factory and shoe maker. New businesses developed rapidly. Romeo Historical Society members