06/05/2026
This article was recently published in the Daily News… Did you see it?
Do the names Fargo and Belknap sound familiar?
You have likely seen the names if you have driven through Greenville. The Fargo & Belknap Block in historic downtown Greenville is located on the northeast corner of Lafayette and Washington Streets. The names FARGO & BELKNAP have been restored and are clearly visible on the south wall.
Have you ever wondered, “Who was Fargo? Who was Belknap?”
In 1869, Fargo and Belknap became partners in the construction of Greenville’s first brick commercial building, constructed on Lafayette Street and made of Greenville brick. The clay for the bricks was mined at Clay and Fairplains Streets and fired in a kiln located on Bracey Avenue. This was the beginning of a building boom which resulted in 26 brick stores being built in Greenville during the next five years: 1869-1874. These new buildings were either two or three stories tall with the first floor containing retail stores, the second floor devoted to offices or living quarters and the third floor to meeting halls.
Fargo’s grocery store occupied the south one-third of the new brick building. The center section was the city’s post office from 1869 to 1884, while Fargo was postmaster. The north one-third of the building was occupied by Belknap’s Book and Stationery Store for over 15 years. The second floor of the FARGO & BELKNAP block served as the Ladies Library until 1872, then was home to the first hospital until 1915 with James Belknap’s son, William, serving as the doctor. It was initially a private hospital that has morphed into Corewell Health Greenville Hospital. The Masonic Lodge occupied the third floor for several years.
Hiram B. Fargo was born in New York in 1833, the youngest of six sons of Daniel and Margaret Fargo. In 1848 the family settled on a farm in Montcalm County. Hiram worked in a saw-mill during the summer and attended school in the winter. He stayed with his parents until their deaths and worked on the family farm from 1852 to 1865. Josephine Peck and Hiram Fargo were married in 1860. In 1865, he and Josie settled in Greenville and Hiram engaged in mercantile business in the firm Fargo, Schnott & Cole.
In 1869, Fargo and Belknap became partners and built the first brick business block in Greenville. In addition to his grocery business, Hiram served as Montcalm County superintendent to the poor in 1863 and 1864, Montcalm County sheriff from November 1864-November 1866, Greenville postmaster from 1867-1881, council president of Greenville under the 1869 village charter, alderman in 1875 after the city incorporated in 1871, president of the Northern Michigan Agricultural Society in 1877, and chief engineer of the Greenville Fire Department in 1877.
Being a member of the First Congregational Church, Hiram was part of the building committee responsible for erecting a new church and helped supervise its construction in early 1880. He was described as, “… an unassuming honest, generous man, who exerts a strong influence for good in the community.” (Excerpt from the American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Michigan Volume 1878)
Hiram Fargo’s death occurred in 1903 at Salt Lake City, where he worked as a traveling agent selling clothing. He was buried in that city in Glenwood Cemetery.
James William Belknap was born in New York in 1842 to James and Mary Belknap. At the age of 14, he moved to Michigan with his parents. James served a four-year apprenticeship in the printing office of the Grand Rapids Herald while attending school.
After moving to Greenville and working at the Independent newspaper office for one year, he purchased the paper and managed it for four years with great success, until selling it in 1866.
James later entered a partnership with Hiram Fargo, building the first commercial brick building in Greenville in 1869. In addition to his retail store, James entered business in a sash door and blind factory, a cement business, and a saw-mill in Sidney. He remained a lumber dealer for many years.
James also held various township and village offices including, alderman, and mayor of Greenville. He was worshipful master of the Masonic Fraternity, member of the Odd-Fellows, and director of the public schools of Greenville for eight years. He and his wife, Amanda (Rice) built a house at 319 W. Cass St. in 1875 and raised their three children here. (It later burned.)
James William Belknap died in 1911 and is buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Greenville.
