Wayne County Building

In 1895, Wayne County officials decided to purchase a city block in downtown Detroit bounded by Randolph, Brush, Congress, and Fort streets as the site of a new county building. Detroit architect John Scott competed against 46 other architects and was selected to design the new building by a committee of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors in early 1896.

Ground was broken at the site in September 1896, and the cornerstone laying ceremony was held on October 20, 1897. The building was completed in 1902 and formally dedicated on October 11 of that year.

The building's ground floor and first floor were constructed of rusticated Eastern granite, while Berea sandstone was used for the upper three floors and the tower. A two-story Corinthian portico guards the main entrance and is decorated with a carved stone relief portrait of "Mad" Anthony Wayne conferring with Native Americans. The relief is the work of Detroit artist Edward Wagner. A four-tiered, domed tower rises above the structure; originally reaching 227 feet, the tower was restored and renovated and now measures 247 feet. A group of bronze sculptures, the work of sculptor John Massey Rhind of New York, adorn the tower. The finished building and its furnishings cost $1.6 million.

In a controversial move, Wayne County officials sold the building to a Detroit investment group in 1985. The investors agreed to complete a renovation and restoration project at county expense and then lease the building back to Wayne County. In 2008, after the building owners and the county failed to reach an agreement on the lease, Wayne County officials chose instead to purchase the nearby Guardian Building and moved county offices there. In July 2014, the Detroit investment partners sold the Wayne County Building to a New York investment partnership.

Detroit Bar Association. The New Wayne County Court House: Dedication of the New Wayne County Court House Detroit, Michigan, October Eleventh, In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred And Two. Detroit: Printed by the Detroit bar association, 1903. 

Wayne County Courthouse, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, National Archives and Records Administration, listed 17 September 1974.

"Site for a New County Building," Detroit Free Press, January 27, 1894, p.8.

"A Fight is On Over Selection of Plans for the New County Building," Detroit Free Press, March 17, 1896, p.1.

"Contract is Signed," Detroit Free Press, January 27, 1897, p.10.

"Favors Gray Granite: Scott Says it Will be Used in the County Building," Detroit Free Press, March 18, 1897, p.5.

"New Temple of Justice," Detroit Free Press, October 12, 1902, p.1.

McHugh, David. "Renovated Old County Building to Reopen," Detroit Free Press, November 23, 1987, p.3.

Hinds, Julie. "Landmark Gets Movie Makeover," Detroit Free Press, March 12, 2009, p.2.

Gallagher, John. "New Yorkers Buy the Old Wayne County Building," Detroit Free Press, July 11, 2014, p.A13.

Williams, Candice. "$7 Restoration for Old Wayne County Building Completed," Detroit News, October 8, 2018.

Austin, Dan. "Old Wayne County Building," HistoricDetroit.org, 2020.