Paint Creek Tavern’s Past, Present and Future

The Paint Creek Tavern Has Been Known by Many Names and Has Ties to Interurban and Railroad Days of Downtown Rochester Paint Creek Tavern—known fondly by locals as the “Paint Creek Yacht Club” or “PCYC”— has been a fixture on the banks of its namesake waterway for decades. But despite its tongue-in-cheek nickname, the business got its start not because of its proximity to water, but because of its location near the interurban and railroad lines.  During the heyday of the Detroit United … [Read more...]

Dillman & Upton: A Centennial Business

Dillman & Upton, one of Rochester’s oldest businesses, is a company that was made in a marriage – sort of. The story starts in the late 1890s, when auctioneer Charles W. Upton came to Rochester just as the village was beginning to boom with the arrival of the interurban line. After spending a few years selling windmills and wire fencing to farmers, Upton started a coal and wood business in a former wagon shop on the corner of what is today West University Drive and Oak Street. Upton and his … [Read more...]