Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District
Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District | |
3300 block of Michigan | |
Interactive map | |
Location | South side of 3301-3461 Michigan Ave. Detroit, Michigan |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°19′53″N 83°5′24″W / 42.33139°N 83.09000°W / 42.33139; -83.09000 |
Built | 1884 |
Architect | Peter Dederichs Jr., Joseph E. Mills, others |
Architectural style | Italianate, Commercial Style |
NRHP reference No. | 100005169[1] |
Added to NRHP | April 8, 2020 |
The Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District in Detroit is a group of commercial buildings located along the south side of two blocks of Michigan Avenue, from 3301–3461. This section of buildings is the most intact collection along this stretch of Detroit's Michigan Avenue.[2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.[1]
History
During the mid-19th century, Detroit became home to numerous German immigrants. They initially settled on the east side of the city, along Gratiot near the central business district. However, as the city grew and pushed its boundaries westward, the German community established a neighborhood on the city's west side, beyond Corktown. The commercial heart of the German neighborhood was along Michigan Avenue from 22nd to 24th Street. By 1887, this section was built up with primarily brick commercial buildings. The businesses represented included a wood and coal business, a carriage and wagon shop, a shoe store, saloon, butcher, and grocer. A number of new buildings were constructed in the district around this time, including the 1887 Reeber Building and the 1889 Schulte and Kaiser Building. By 1897, the commercial district extended along both sides of Michigan Avenue, with buildings occupying all lots available. However, the buildings on the northern side have been largely demolished, leaving only the section on the southern side.[2]
By 1900, the rise of Detroit manufacturing had made the area around the district substantially industrial, and the residential neighborhoods attractive to factory workers. The commercial section along Michigan Avenue flourished, with all kinds of businesses represented. As the automobile became more common, the section of industrial plants became concentrated in larger operations. By 1929, the district was still a flourishing commercial areal, housing a grocer, jeweler, movie house, candy store, bank, interior decorator, and furniture store.[2]
However, by 1940, the Great Depression had taken its toll, and there were an increased number of vacancies. A project in the mid-1930s to widen Michigan Avenue had also resulted in the loss of some buildings, particularly some of the stock opposite the current district on the north side of Michigan. By 1950, many of the local automotive factories had moved to larger, more modern plants, and the surrounding neighborhood was in decline. Additionally, the architecture seen in the commercial district was out of style, and newer buildings were constructed to be more modern. A city planning project demolished many of the houses south of Michigan Avenue to make room for more industry, and the area became less desirable to live in. Businesses along the section of Michigan Avenue dwindled, and by the late 1960s many of the buildings were vacant.[2]
Description
The two-block section of Michigan Avenue defining the district contains 18 buildings, 13 of which are historically significant. These are all commercial structures, ranging from one to three stories, and were constructed primarily between 1884 and 1925. The buildings represent typical late 19th century and early 20th century commercial styles, in particular Italianate and Commercial Style. Several of the buildings have been modernized with alterations to their facades.[2]
The buildings included in the district are:
- Wolverine Theater (3301 Michigan Avenue): constructed c. 1918. A one-story brick building with a large parapet originally used for signage. The facade is covered with vertical wood siding.[2]
- 3311 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1922. A one-story brick building with a flat roof. The front has brick column detailing and a stone cap.[2]
- 3315-3317 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1898. A two-story brick building with a flat roof. The two street numbers are assigned to a primary entry in the center of the façade, and a slightly narrower secondary entry close to one end which leads up to the second-floor apartments. A storefront cornice is topped by a stone sill that united the second-story windows. The building cornice has decorative brickwork in a scallop pattern.[2]
- 3321 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1910. A one-story yellow brick building with a flat roof. The storefront is framed by brick pilasters and sets of paired metal brackets support a metal cornice.[2]
- 3325 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1896. A three-story yellow brick building with a flat roof. The second and third stories are unified by a large round arch with decorative keystone, recessed about two feet, placed in the center of the building. The arch is filled with a projecting bay window on the second floor and a door on the third. The arch is flanked by window openings on both levels; the third floor windows are arched.[2]
- 3333 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1900. A three-story brick red building with a flat roof. It is divided into two bays: a thin one on one end with an entry door and single windows above, and the main bay with a storefront ad three sets of paired windows above.[2]
- Reeber Furniture Company Building (3363 Michigan Avenue): constructed 1887 and designed by Peter Dederichs, Jr. and Joseph E. Mills. A seventy-foot long two-story building constructed of brick. The façade is divided into three asymmetrical bays by brick pilasters with stone capitals and decorative stone accents at the base. The window openings on the second floor have arched stone moldings with a small scroll design. A cornice with corbeled brickwork runs along the roofline.[2]
- Grosfield Building (3365 Michigan Avenue): constructed 1893 and designed by Joseph E. Mills. A three-story brick building with a flat roof. The most architecturally distinctive building in the district, this structure contains several Queen Anne details, including textured stone trim, patterned brickwork, terra cotta insets, semi-circular arched openings and a cylindrical tower with conical roof. Stone belt courses run between the stories.[2]
- People's State Bank (3401 Michigan Avenue): constructed 1925. A one-story building with a flat roof, faced with limestone. The building has three bays along Michigan and eight bays along the side street. The primary entrance is through a recessed portico flanked by Ionic columns. The front door is framed with a pediment.[2]
- 3415 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1884. A two-story brick building with a flat roof. This building was constructed as a unified triple building, along with 3419 and 3423 Michigan. It is divided into four bays.[2]
- 3419 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1884. A two-story brick building with a flat roof. This building was constructed as a unified triple building, along with 3415 and 3423 Michigan. The ground floor has evidence of arched window treatments, not shared with the other two buildings. It is divided into four bays.[2]
- 3423 Michigan Avenue: constructed c. 1884. A two-story brick building with a flat roof. This building was constructed as a unified triple building, along with 3415 and 3419 Michigan.[2]
- Schulte and Kaiser Grocery Building (3461 Michigan Avenue): constructed c. 1889 and designed by Peter Dederichs, Jr. A two-story brick building with a flat roof and projecting parapet. Ot is divided into eight bays and two storefronts; the storefronts are currently filled in. A corner entry is located at one end. The storefronts and corner entry are set off by decorative brick pilaster with decorative stone treatment.[2]
References
- ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Program: Weekly List". National Park Service. April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Dawn A. Bilobran (November 30, 2019), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District (PDF)
- v
- t
- e
- Annapolis Park Historic District
- Arden Park–East Boston Historic District
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church
- Belle Isle Park
- Beverly Road Historic District
- Boston–Edison Historic District
- Broadway Avenue Historic District
- Brush Park Historic District
- Capitol Park Historic District
- Cass–Davenport Historic District
- Cass Park Historic District
- Cherry Hill Historic District
- Church of the Transfiguration Historic District
- Corktown Historic District
- Cultural Center Historic District
- Detroit Financial District
- Eastern Market Historic District
- East Ferry Avenue Historic District
- East Grand Boulevard Historic District
- East River Road Historic District
- Eastside Historic Cemetery District
- Fort Wayne
- Grand Circus Park Historic District
- Greektown Historic District
- Grosse Pointe Academy
- Grosse Pointe South High School
- Helen Newberry Nurses Home
- Highland Heights–Stevens' Subdivision Historic District
- Indian Village Historic District
- Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District
- Jefferson Intermediate School
- John and Edna Truesdell Fischer Farmstead
- Jos. Campau Historic District
- Louis G. Redstone Residential Historic District
- Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District
- Medbury's–Grove Lawn Subdivisions Historic District
- Midtown Woodward Historic District
- Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District
- Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings
- New Amsterdam Historic District
- New Center Commercial Historic District
- Northville Historic District
- Norwayne Historic District
- Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District
- Palmer Park Boulevard Apartments District
- Palmer Woods Historic District
- Park Avenue Historic District
- Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District
- Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District
- Rosedale Gardens Historic District
- Rosedale Park Historic District
- St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Parish Complex
- St. Florian Church
- Springwells Park Historic District
- Sugar Hill Historic District
- Virginia Park Historic District
- Warren–Prentis Historic District
- Washington Boulevard Historic District
- Wayne State University Buildings
- West Canfield Historic District
- West Vernor–Junction Historic District
- West Vernor–Lawndale Historic District
- West Vernor–Springwells Historic District
- West Village Historic District
- Willis–Selden Historic District
- Woodbridge Historic District
- Woodward East Historic District
- Albert Kahn House
- Alden Park Towers
- Alexander Chapoton House
- Alexander Chene House
- Alger Theater
- Alpha House
- Amity Lodge No. 335 Temple — Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Temple
- Antietam Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
- Architects Building
- Arthur M. Parker House
- Bagley Memorial Fountain
- Barlum Tower
- Belcrest Apartments
- Benjamin and Mary Ann Bradford House
- Bernard Ginsburg House
- Birwood Wall
- Carl E. and Alice Candler Schmidt House
- Carlton D. Wall House
- Cary Building
- Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church
- Cass Motor Sales
- Cathedral Church of St. Paul Complex
- Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
- Central United Methodist Church
- Central Woodward Christian Church
- Chapel of St. Theresa–the Little Flower
- Chatsworth Apartments
- Century Building and Little Theatre
- Charles G. Curtiss Sr. House
- Charles J. and Ingrid V. (Frendberg) Koebel House
- Charles Lang Freer House
- Charles Trombly House
- Charles Trowbridge House
- Checker Cab Taxi Garage and Office Building
- Chestnut Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
- Christ Church Chapel
- Christ Church, Detroit
- Col. Frank J. Hecker House
- Commandant's Quarters
- Coronado Apartments
- Croul–Palms House
- Crescent Brass and Pin Company Building
- David and Elizabeth Bell Boldman House
- David Whitney House
- Dearborn City Hall Complex
- Dearborn Inn and Colonial Homes
- Defer Elementary School
- Detroit Club
- Detroit–Columbia Central Office Building
- Detroit Cornice and Slate Company Building
- Detroit Edison Company Willis Avenue Station
- Detroit–Leland Hotel
- Detroit Masonic Temple
- Detroit Naval Armory
- Detroit News Complex
- Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch
- Detroit Yacht Club
- Dry Dock Engine Works–Detroit Dry Dock Company Complex
- Duane Doty School
- Dunbar Hospital
- East River Road–North Hickory Canal Bridge
- Eddystone Hotel
- Edmund Atkinson School
- Edwin Denby High School
- Edwin S. George Building
- Edson, Moore and Company Building
- Eighth Precinct Police Station
- Elisha Taylor House
- El Tovar Apartments
- Elwood Bar
- Elizabeth Cleveland Intermediate School
- Engine House No. 11
- Engine House No. 18
- Ephraim and Emma Woodworth Truesdell House
- Farwell Building
- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building
- Ferry Street–Thorofare Canal Bridge
- Fisher and New Center Buildings
- First Baptist Church of Detroit
- First Congregational Church
- First Federal Building
- First Presbyterian Church
- First Unitarian Church of Detroit
- First United Methodist Church
- Ford–Bacon House
- Ford Valve Plant
- Fort Street Presbyterian Church
- Fort Shelby Hotel
- Fort Street–Pleasant Street and Norfolk & Western Railroad Viaduct
- Francis Palms Building & State Theater
- Franklin H. Walker House
- Frederick K. Stearns House
- Frederick Stearns Building
- Frederic M. Sibley Lumber Company Office Building
- Garden Bowl
- Garden Court Apartments
- General Motors Research Laboratory
- George and Mary Pine Smith House
- George P. MacNichol House
- George W. Loomer House
- Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Gibraltar Road–Waterway Canal Bridge
- Globe Tobacco Building
- Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Grand Army of the Republic Building
- Grande Ballroom
- Graybar Electric Company Building
- Great Lakes Manor
- Greenfield Union School
- Greenmead Farms
- Griswold Building
- Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
- Grosse Pointe Central Library
- Grosse Pointe War Memorial
- Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
- Hamtramck Stadium
- Harmonie Centre (formerly the Breitmeyer–Tobin Building)
- Henry Ford Hospital
- Henry Ford Square House
- Henry W. Baker House
- Herman Strasburg House
- Hibbard Apartment Building
- Highland Park General Hospital
- Highland Park Presbyterian Church
- Hook and Ladder House No. 5–Detroit Fire Department Repair Shop
- Hotel Stevenson
- Hudson–Evans House
- Hunter House
- Hurlbut Memorial Gate
- Hull's Trace North Huron River Corduroy Segment
- James A. Garfield School
- Jefferson Avenue–Huron River and Harbin Drive–Silver Creek Canal Bridges
- Jefferson Hall
- Jerome H. Remick and Company Building
- John and Eliza Barr Patterson House
- John and Emma Lacey Eberts House
- John Harvey House
- John N. Bagley House
- John T. Woodhouse House
- Joseph Campau House
- Kingston Arms Apartments
- Lancaster and Waumbek Apartments
- Lawyers Building
- L. B. King and Company Building
- League of Catholic Women Building
- Lee Plaza Hotel
- Lewis Cass Technical High School
- Lilley Road–Lower Rouge River Bridge
- Lincoln Park Post Office
- Maccabees Building
- Majestic Theater
- Manchester Apartments
- Mariners' Church
- Marwood Apartments
- Marx House
- McKinley Elementary School
- Mellus Newspapers Building
- Merchants Building
- Metropolitan United Methodist Church
- Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse
- Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
- Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building, and Agricultural Building
- Moross House
- Mulford T. Hunter House
- Nacirema Club
- Nellie Leland School
- New Bethel Baptist Church
- North Woodward Congregational Church
- Orchestra Hall
- Orrin and Roxanne Fairman Kinyon House
- Orson Everitt House
- Ossian H. Sweet House
- Park Avenue House
- Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Company Plant
- Parke Lane Road–Thorofare Canal Bridge
- Pasadena Apartments
- Paul Harvey Deming House
- Penn Central Station
- Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School
- Perry McAdow House
- Philetus W. Norris House
- Phillip and Maria Hasselbach Dingledey House
- Pilgrim and Puritan Apartment Complex
- Ponchartrain Apartments
- Pontchartrain Club/Town House Apartments
- Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex
- Professional Plaza Tower
- Redford Theatre Building
- Redford Township District No. 5 School
- River Terrace Apartments
- Robert M. and Matilda (Kitch) Grindley House
- Rosa L. (McCauley) and Raymond Parks Flat
- Sacred Heart Major Seminary
- Sacred Heart Church
- St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church
- Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church
- Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church Complex
- St. Bonaventure Monastery
- St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church
- St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church
- St. James Episcopal Church
- St. John's Episcopal Church
- St. John's–St. Luke's Evangelical Church
- St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church
- St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1883)
- St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1926)
- St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church
- Saint Paul Catholic Church Complex
- Saint Paul Manor Apartments
- Saints Peter and Paul Academy
- Saints Peter and Paul Church
- Saint Rita Apartments
- St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church
- St. Theresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church
- St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
- Samuel L. Smith House
- Santa Fe Apartments
- Scarab Club
- Second Baptist Church of Detroit
- Sheldon Inn
- Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church
- Sibley House
- Sidney D. Miller Junior High and High School
- Somerset Apartments
- South Pointe Drive–Frenchman's Creek Bridge
- S. S. Kresge World Headquarters
- Starkweather School
- State Savings Bank
- Stuber–Stone Building
- Sweetest Heart Of Mary Roman Catholic Church
- Temple Baptist Church – King Solomon Baptist Church
- Temple Beth-El (Bonstelle Theatre)
- Temple Beth-El (Bethel Community Transformation Center)
- The Clay School
- The Harmonie Club
- The Kean
- The Palms
- The Players
- The Wardell
- Third Precinct Police Station
- Thomas and Isabella Moore Clyde House
- Thomas and Maria Blackman Bartlett House
- Thomas A. Parker House
- Thomas M. Cooley High School
- Thomas S. Sprague House
- Thompson Home
- Tiger Stadium
- Tivadar and Dorothy Balogh House
- Trinity Episcopal Church
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Complex
- Trinity United Methodist Church
- Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
- US 12 Bridges
- U.S. Post Office, Court House, and Custom House
- United States Immigration Station
- United States Postal Service Roosevelt Park Station
- Vanity Ballroom Building
- Verona Apartments
- Vinton Building
- Waltz Road–Huron River Bridge
- Warren Motor Car Company Building
- Wayne County Building
- Weil and Company – Gabriel Richard Building
- West Jefferson Avenue–Rouge River Bridge
- West Side Dom Polski
- WGPR-TV Studio
- Whittier Hotel
- William and Margot Kessler House
- William B. and Mary Chase Stratton House
- William C. Boydell House
- William H. Wells House
- William Hawkins Ferry House
- Wilson Barn
- Wilson Theatre
- WJBK-TV Studios Building
- Women's City Club
- Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church
- Wyandotte Odd Fellows Temple
- Detroit Industry Murals
- Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (Gaukler Pointe)
- Fair Lane
- Fisher Building
- Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
- Ford River Rouge Complex
- Fox Theatre Building
- Highland Park Ford Plant
- General Motors Building
- Guardian Building
- Mies van der Rohe Residential District, Lafayette Park
- McGregor Memorial Conference Center
- Parke-Davis Research Laboratory
- Pewabic Pottery
- The Henry Ford
- Chateau Frontenac Apartments
- Dodge Mansion
- Grand Riviera Theater
- Harper Hospital
- Lincoln Motor Company Plant
- Columbia (steamboat)
- Ste. Claire (steamboat)
- Woodward Avenue Baptist Church