When Cobo Arena was completed, the Detroit Pistons moved from Olympia Stadium which they had shared with the Detroit Red Wings at the time. Cobo Arena was opened in 1960, and the pistons moved in starting the 1961 season there. The Pistons didn't have a ton of success while at Cobo, making the playoffs only 9 times, and never making it out of the first round. The pistons played at Cobo until the 1978 season, when they were moved to the the Pontiac Silverdome, also home of the Detroit Lions. At that time, future mayor Dave Bing played for the Detroit Pistons. The Arena held various concerts until 2009. Every sitting President of the United States since 1960 to 2008 has addressed a convention or at least attended an event in the Cobo Center. In 2012, city leaders decided to tear down the wall that was separating the Cobo Center and the Cobo Arena and demolish the former arena to expand the convention center. Iconic moments such as KISS playing Detroit Rock City at Cobo Arena and the audio of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech can be found below.

Cobo Arena held its last event in 2009, a concert by the band Phish. 

More Info

Website

Video

Now home to Detroit's convention center, Cobo Center dates back to 1960, when the original and now-demolished Cobo Arena was completed. Expanded and renovated throughout the decades, Cobo Center is named in honor of Detroit mayor Albert E. Cobo who was in office from 1950 to 1957. The former arena was home to the Detroit Pistons for many years and may be most historically-significant as the location of a 1963 speech by Martin Luther King Jr. In that speech, King delivered many of the same lines that would become famous in his later speech at the March on Washington, including the phrase "I have a dream." That speech was recorded by Motown Records and distributed as a single record entitled "The Great March to Freedom." With redevelopment plans and the construction of the Cobo Center, the former arena was demolished to expand the convention center which is best known today as the home of the Detroit Auto Show.

Cobo Center and Cobo Hall 

Classroom

This tour of Detroit starts with the iconic Fox Theatre and Augustus Woodward's plan for rebuilding the city. The tour includes some of Detroit's most famous buildings, monuments, and historical and cultural sites.

Fox Theater was once called "the most magnificent 
Temple of Amusement in the World." At the time it was completed, it was the second-largest movie theatre in the world. The
 lobby of the theater is 3,600 square feet and six stories tall, and the
 auditorium seats over 5,000 people. The interior features Egyptian, 
Indian, and Far Eastern motifs chosen by William Fox's 
wife. Originally, it employed 
over 400 staff members, such as doormen, ushers, designers, and matrons.1 The Fox opened on September 21, 1928 with the silent film "Street Angel." The Theatre had many modern amenities and state-of-the-art equipment for the time. It was the first in the world to have custom, built-in audio for talking movies, and it was the first theater to have escalators and elevators.1 In its early years, productions in Fox included vaudeville acts, movies, and newsreels. During World War II, the theater operated non-stop to accommodate all of the plant workers who worked late shifts. Even when tickets were only 35 cents, the theater grossed $75,000 (or around 200,000 people) weekly.&nbsp;The theater has hosted many famous entertainers over the years, including Shirley Temple, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and multiple Motown legends. In 1987, Mike and Mariah Ilitch purchased the theater and completed a $12 renovation. Today, Fox Theatre is a profitable and magnificent entertainment destination within Detroit.

Fox Theatre is one the largest surviving "movie palaces" of the 1920s. It was built as part of the Fox Films chain by William Fox, founder of Fox Films Company, which would later become Twentieth Century Fox. Designed by architect Charles Howard Crane, Fox Theatre is known best for its elegant interior, which features Asian- and Middle-Eastern-inspired accents throughout. The Fox opened in 1928 and operated continuously until the 1980s when it was closed due to serious maintenance issues and needed repairs. It reopened November 19, 1988 after a $12 million renovation. 

Fox Theatre

Augustus Brevoort Woodward was born in 1774 in New York. He graduated
from Columbia College and became Washington, D.C.’s first practicing lawyer.1 He was described as being quite eccentric, a lifelong-bachelor, and a
workaholic who slept in his disorderly office and had few friends. He was well
over six feet tall, lean, and stooped; some said he resembled Ichabod Crane.2 Woodward was appointed
Chief Justice of Michigan Territory in March 1805 by a personal acquaintance, Thomas
Jefferson. He arrived in Detroit just three weeks after the fire that
completely leveled the city, leaving only a few buildings intact. Governor Hull
and Woodward discussed a plan for the rapidly growing city, and Woodward was
appointed to oversee the layout.3 Woodward’s plan was built around an idea that was first brought to the
U.S. by architect Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant who had planned Washington,
D.C. L’Enfant’s concept for Washington actually came from European city layouts
in ancient Rome and 19th-century aristocratic France. Woodward’s
plan involved diagonal streets radiating out from major city sites, with public
spaces being carved out in squares, circles, and triangles. “The complicated
plan involved a repeating hexagonal shape to contain smaller triangles, divided
by broad thoroughfares that would continue through the city, with a ‘Grand
Circus’ at every major intersection, and smaller spaces reserved for public
purposes. The scheme was also novel in that it had roads of different widths.
The thoroughfares coursing through the city would be 200 feet wide lined with
elliptical groves; secondary roads would be 120 feet wide and lined with trees;
minor streets were still a generous 60 feet across. The slimmest streets were
deep in the interior sections, where the noise of the city would find it hard
to intrude.”4 Woodward traveled to Washington to get approval for his plan, and it
was implemented in the summer of 1806. Lots in the new plan were put up for
sale, with landowners in the old town getting equal amounts of land under the
new plan.3 All of this took so much time, however, that residents were
growing restless. They were ready to rebuild, and even with the city recovering
from ashes, the population was growing. While Woodward was away in Washington
in the fall of 1817, residents finally won out, and government leaders agreed
to start selling land in right-angled, 160-acre farms to the north of the city.4 Woodward was furious, but there was a strong momentum behind Detroit’s
growth into a bustling metropolis of the West. As the city expanded and grew rapidly, the Woodward Plan was abandoned
in favor of a standard grid pattern. The result is an odd aerial view of grid
streets clashing with diagonal streets. Although it was not allowed to expand
outward to the rest of the city, much of the Woodward Plan still exists today
in the half-hexagon that makes up downtown Detroit. It is especially obvious in
places like triangular Capitol Park, Campus Marius, and the semi-circular Grand
Circus Park. One of the main roads radiating diagonally out from downtown was
named Woodward Avenue after its designer, whose work is more readily
appreciated by many today. Woodward stayed in Detroit even during the British occupation of 1812. He
was one of the co-founders of the University of Michigan, the state’s first
college, which opened in 1817. After almost two decades in service in Detroit,
he was reappointed to a judicial post in Florida Territory, where he died in
1827.1 No copy of his original plan survives, but last anyone
knew, it “fell into the hands of Aaron Greely, surveyor, in whose house it was
seen in a broken window, keeping out the weather, and in whose hands it
disappeared.”2

In 1805, Detroit was named the capital of the newly-created Michigan Territory. On June 11, 1805, Detroit suffered a devastating fire, which left only a few buildings intact. A new plan was put forward by Chief Justice Augustus B. Woodward to create a new layout for the growing city. The plan would be based on a design similar to Washington, D.C.’s layout, with a “spoke-and-wheel” or honeycomb pattern of streets and wide boulevards. Woodward’s plan for Detroit was only partially implemented, being unpopular with residents who were impatient to get the city rebuilt. However, certain aspects of Woodward’s plan can be seen in the triangular and half-circle public spaces around the city, and in the diagonal main streets, like Woodward Avenue, named after its designer. 

The Woodward Plan

One of Detroit's tallest skyscrapers, the Broderick Tower opened in 1928. It was designed by architect Louis Kamper, who built several other important Detroit landmarks, and it was commissioned by Berrien Eaton, a member of one of Detroit's most well-established and influential&nbsp;families. Originally called Eaton Tower, the 370-foot building housed shops on the lower levels and offices above. It was particularly popular with medical professionals, and was occupied by dozens of doctor's offices. 1 The tower was renamed to the Broderick in 1944 when it came under new ownership. On the ground level, the Blazing Embers restaurant opened in the early 1950s and quickly became a Detroit institution. However, through the 1970s, more and more tenants began moving out as Detroit's businesses suffered, and the building started to show its age. By 1985, it was completely vacant except for the Blazing Embers, which then closed in 1993. Various deals to renovate the space fell through over the next two decades. Finally, in 2010, funding was secured to renovate the Broderick Tower into apartments. This was partly thanks to the resurgence of the area after the opening of the new Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, just next to the tower. Both the exterior limestone and much of the original historic interior were restored at a cost of $50 million. 100% of the 125 new apartments were leased before the grand reopening in November 2012.2

One of Detroit's tallest skyscrapers, Broderick Tower opened in 1928. The building was commissioned by Berrien Eaton and opened as Eaton Tower prior to its sale in 1944. The 370-foot building housed shops and a popular restaurant on the lower levels and offices above. Like many other opulent structures built in the 1920s, Eaton Tower struggled to attract and maintain tenants during the Great Depression but became a center of Detroit's boom years from World War II through the 1960s. Mirroring the larger history of the city, Broderick Tower lost tenants as many Detroit businesses left the downtown area beginning in the 1970s. Much of the building was vacant for decades, but like the city itself, the owners of Broderick Tower have worked to attract new business and with some government support, has benefited from efforts to revive the downtown area. Between 2010 and 2012, parts of the building were renovated and converted into apartments as the first phase of the building owner's plan to revive this former downtown icon. 

Broderick Tower

David Whitney, Jr was a lumber baron, a shrewd real estate
speculator, and Detroit’s wealthiest man. At one point, the lumbering company
that he owned with his brother Charles was the largest lumber dealer in the US.
He bought property at Grand Circus Park before it was developed, when it was
still on the outskirts of downtown Detroit. In 1887, he built a five-story
office building there called the Grand Circus Building. (the whitney) At the
time of his death in 1900, Whitney was worth about $15 million, or $338 million
adjusted for inflation, and his son, David Charles Whitney, inherited his
fortune.1, 2 In 1915, David C. Whitney hired the firm of legendary
architect Daniel H. Burnham to design a skyscraper in place of his father’s
Grand Circus Building. Burnham, considered “the father of the skyscraper,” was
the architect behind the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in
Washington.3 The David Whitney Building is one of only three
buildings left in Detroit by Burnham, the others being the Ford Building and the Dime Building. It was completed for $1 million, or about $22.7 million today.4 At 18 stories high, the Neo-Renaissance structure originally
had a steel frame with a decorative terra cotta, brick, and stone exterior. The
building’s most notable feature was its 3,000-square-foot inner atrium lobby,
making up about 20% of the entire lot.5 The lobby rose up four
floors, or 71 feet from ground level, with a skylight meant to provide maximum
natural sunlight to shoppers below. The interior was faced with white tile,
terra cotta, marble, and gold leafing. The first four floors of the building
were home to high-class stores, while the upper floors were reserved as office
space, largely rented out by medical offices.5, 6 The David Whitney Building became one of Detroit’s most
iconic skyscrapers and a historical centerpiece around Grand Circus Park. However,
in 1959, the exterior of the building was “modernized,” and the decorative
cornices, parapets, and columnns were removed. The David Whitney Building was owned
by the Whitney family until 1965; at the time, it was still 90% occupied by
over 300 doctors and dentists.4 Over the next few decades, it suffered
the same fate as many of Detroit’s other business buildings though; with a declining
city population, commercial tenants decreased as well. By the 1990s, the vast
skyscraper was left completely vacant. Plans for a hotel fell through in 2000,
but were revived again in 2011. The building was sold for $3.3 million to the
Whitney Partners, with the help of a $1 million loan from the city’s Downtown
Development Authority.4 $92 million was put into restoration costs, bringing the
exterior back to its original classical design, and converting the building
into an Aloft hotel and apartments.6 The restoration earned the 2015 Governor’s
Award for Historic Preservation.7

Completed in 1915, the David Whitney Building was named after wealthy lumber tycoon David Whitney, Jr. It was designed in a Neo-Renaissance style by the architectural firm of Daniel H. Burnham, known as “the father of the skyscraper.” The building cost $1 million to complete and is 18 stories high. It features an ornate exterior and a beautiful four-story atrium with skylight. Originally, it housed high-end shops and medical offices buildings. As tenants gradually moved out with Detroit’s decline, the building was left vacant for years. A $92 million award-winning restoration project was completed in 2014, and the building now serves as a hotel and apartment space. 

David Whitney Building

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a national fraternal
group of Union Civil War veterans. The group was created in 1866 as a way to
gather together veterans for meetings and social events, as well as to campaign
for veterans’ issues in government. The GAR also provided charitable assistance
for needy veterans and their families, paying for health care and funerals or
burials of veterans.1 At the time this post opened in
Detroit, there were about 500,000 members nationwide.2 The cornerstone of this post in Detroit was laid on July 4,
1899, and it was the largest GAR hall built in Michigan. The
local GAR posts paid $6,000 towards construction while the remaining $38,000
was paid for by bonds sold by the City of Detroit.2 The stone Romanesque-style
building was designed by Julius Hess in a triangular shape with castle-like
battlements. The city leased the 25,000-square-foot building to the GAR rent-free
for 30 years. The ground floor held shops, while the GAR and its affiliate
organizations used the top four floors.2 Veterans could come to reminisce,
relax, and play cards with one another. An auditorium with a balcony provided a
stage for more formal gatherings. In 1930, the lease was extended on a year-by-year basis, but
by 1934, the group had agreed to let it go. Membership had dwindled as veterans
passed away, and many of the remaining members were too old to have an interest
in maintaining the building. The shops in the bottom of the building had helped
pay utilities, but many had closed up. For a time, the affiliate organizations
worked to try to keep the building for their meetings and as a memorial to the
GAR veterans, but to no avail. The last GAR member in Detroit died in 1942; the
last national member would die in 1956.2 In 1943, the City of Detroit’s Department of
Parks and Recreation moved into the building. It became a recreation center for
sports groups, tournaments, youth organizations, and community parties until closing
in 1982. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1986, but it remained vacant and in disrepair for decades. In 2011, it was
finally purchased for $220,000 by brothers Tom and David Charleton, owners of
Mindfield USA, an audio and video production company, and their business
partner Sean Emery. Emery and the Charletons have invested millions into the
restoration of the building, converting the space for commercial use over
several years. The old GAR building now houses the Parks &amp; Rec Diner and Republic
Tavern on the ground floor while the office headquarters and work spaces for Mindfield
USA are on the upper floors. There are several display cases of GAR memorabilia
and items discovered during renovation as a tribute to its history.3

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans that was formed in 1866. The national group organized local gatherings to foster a sense of camaraderie between veterans, as well as provided charitable services to veteran families in need. Detroit's GAR members constructed this Romanesque-style building in 1899, and it was the largest GAR hall built in Michigan. The building rented shop space on the ground floor and provided offices and meeting places, including an auditorium, on the upper floors. After membership dwindled, the building was used by the City of Detroit's Parks and Recreation Department as a recreation center. Vacant for many years, it has recently been restored and now houses a diner, tavern, and media production company office. 

Grand Army of the Republic Building

<h4>Brief History of the Automobile</h4>It is important to note that Henry Ford was not the “inventor” of the automobile, though his contributions to automobile production paved the way for mass ownership amongst the middle class while changing the way Americans, as well as the rest of the world, considered the role of the automobile in everyday life. Nevertheless, the first automobile dates back to 17th-century China, when Ferdinand Verbiest built a steam-powered vehicle in 1672 for the emperor of China. This vehicle, however, was too small to carry passengers. Steam-powered, self-propelled vehicles that could carry passengers were unveiled around 1770 with Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot’s “steam wagon.” In 1784, William Murdoch built a steam carriage, and the first automobile patent in America was given to Oliver Evans in 1789 for his steam-powered carriages. By the 19th-century, automobiles were in vogue, and quite expensive. Nonetheless, it was during the first few decades of the 19th-century that automobiles were given hand brakes, more effective steering, and multi-speed transmissions. Despite many innovations from the UK, France, Canada, and the US, the first “real” automobile, which was designed to transport groups of passengers, was credited to Amédée Bollée in 1873; however, toward the end of the 19-century, inventions such as internal combustion and four-stroke diesel engines made their appearances, while industry leaders such as Karl Benz and George B. Selden helped give rise to the fledgling automobile industry.1 <h4>History of the Ford Motor Company</h4>The history of the Ford Motor Company begins with the birth and childhood of Henry Ford. He was born on the family farm outside of Dearborn, Michigan in 1863, and by his teenage years, young Ford had already developed a respectable reputation as a watch repairman. Despite his success, Ford did not feel at home on the family farm, and in 1879, he left the farm to become a machinist in Detroit. After working with several companies in different roles, including machinist, steam engine mechanic, and bookkeeping, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in 1891. Two years later, Ford was promoted to the Chief Engineer position, giving him the spare time and money needed to experiment with gasoline engines in a workshop behind his house at 58 Bagley (Due to a massive street renumbering project in Detroit in 1920-1921, the current address of Ford’s first workshop is 220 Bagley Avenue).After years of experimenting in his private workshop, Ford unveiled the “Ford Quadricycle” in 1896. Unlike other inventors at the time, Ford sought financing for his vehicle, and sold it for $200 that same year. This vehicle included four bicycle wheels, a four-horsepower engine, a tiller instead of a steering wheel, and a gearbox with only two forward gears (no reverse). Partly due to the Quadricycle, Ford joined the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899, though he left less than a year later. In 1901, he successfully designed a 26-horsepower vehicle, titled the “Sweepstakes,” which beat Alexander Winton’s 70-horsepower vehicle, the “Bullet,” during 10 laps at the Detroit Driving Club. This success thereafter led Ford and some of his backers to create the Henry Ford Company (Ford also left this company within a year; thereafter, it changed its name to the Cadillac Automobile Company).Two years later in 1903, with 12 investors and 1,000 shares, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated. That same year, after spending $28,000, the Ford Model A arrived on the market in July, and by October, the Ford Motor Company had a profit of $37,000. In 1908, Ford developed the Model T, which included the first engine with a removable cylinder head. Between 1908 and 1927, the Ford Motor Company sold over 15 million Model Ts, making it one of the most popular cars in the world. In 1913, Ford introduced the integrated moving assembly line, and along with many other contributions throughout the 20th-century, Ford helped grow his company into the one of the most successful automobile manufacturers. Ford would later buy his Quadricycle as a keepsake for $60. It is now housed at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn while his Bagley Avenue workshop was reconstructed at Greenfield Village.2 <h4>Inscription on the Historical Marker</h4>This marker commemorates the birthplace of the Ford Motor car. Here in 1892, Henry Ford began experimenting with the motorized vehicle in his workshop, a small one-story brick structure, once located on this site. His invention was quite simple compared to today’s automobiles. It consisted of a two-cylinder machine, mounted on a light frame geared to bicycle wheels. That unpretentious auto was the start of the Ford Motor Company which played a major part in the automobile industry that changed the face of Michigan and the world.3

At this location beginning in 1892, Henry Ford began experimenting with and producing a simple automobile with a two-cylinder engine, which was essentially mounted on a frame and geared to bicycle wheels. Ford would go on to create one of the most influential automobile manufacturing companies in the world. In the early 1900s, Ford Motor Company led the world in automobile production. Built with Ford’s own hands at this location, the “Ford Quadricycle” began the future industrialists career as an automobile manufacturer. In 1896 at the age of 32, Ford sold his first car for $200 (equivalent to about $5,400 today). He built two new models in 1899 and 1901. Although seen as a toy for the rich at the time, the Quadricycle inspired Ford to continue innovating and eventually start his own company, which ultimately resulted in the founding of the Ford Motor Company in 1903. His Bagley Avenue workshop was reconstructed at Greenfield Village, where it remains today.

Birthplace of the Ford Automobile

There are few places that visually epitomize Detroit’s rise
and fall quite like the Michigan Theatre. Many writers have pointed out the
irony that the site where Henry Ford’s first automobile was created is now a
parking garage. But not just any parking garage; it has been dubbed “The Most
Beautiful Parking Lot in the World.”1 That beauty is thanks to
the site’s history, the story of what happened between the days of Ford’s
workshop and the current parking structure. During the prosperous 1920s, movie palaces were all the
rage, and Detroit was a booming metropolis, with riches pouring in from the
auto industry and related businesses. The Michigan Theatre was arguably the
most grand of all the movie palaces built in the city, with a 13-story office
building attached to it. It was constructed at a cost of $5 million by John H.
Kunsky, who requested that renowned architects Cornelius and George Rapp design
it. The opulent French Renaissance theater held 4,050 seats and opened on
August 23, 1926 with the silent film “You’ll Never Know Women.”2 Dan Austin of HistoricDetroit.org
describes the interior upon completion: <blockquote>“The theater was loaded in extravagant
details, from its auditorium to its four-story, 1,000-square-foot,
mirror-paneled, Black-and-white checkered-floor Grande Lobby. The lobby was
complete with columnns and red velvet hangings, marble archways, lavish towering
columnns, baskets of flowers and large crystal chandeliers. A lovely wide
staircase with carved balustrades and covered in lush red carpet stood at the
other end. A grand piano entertained guests waiting for the movie to start.
Between every pair of columnns was an oil painting, works of art by the National
Academy […]. All of the sculptures, busts, intricately carved furnishings,
paintings and onyx pedestals filling the Michigan’s lobby made it seem as much
a museum as a movie theater. The mezzanine level was initially reserved for
Black-tie invited guests and had gilded foyers and subdued lighting and also
was decorated with paintings. There also were luxurious lounges and ‘cosmetic
rooms’ for women and ‘retiring rooms’ for men. A large replica of a
fifth-century Roman sculpture depicting a horse and chariot stood there. […] Another
large sculpture, “Cupid and Psyche,” was a replica of a work by 18th-century
artist Antonio Canova. The huge auditorium featured six aisles of seats on each
level, side boxes, 10-foot crystal chandeliers dangling eight floors above the
seats below, a stage with orchestra pit and a 5/28 Wurlitzer organ that could
be raised to the stage.”3

</blockquote>In addition to movies, vaudeville and musical acts such as
the Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Betty Grable, Bob Hope, Louis
Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Jimmy Dorsey also appeared at the Michigan
Theatre for decades.3 The “Michigan” vertical marquee sign was ordered taken
down by the city in 1952.2 The theater’s decline matched the decline of Detroit.
The last movie showing was in 1971.3 The Michigan Building office space was
still in use, but the theater was transformed into a nightclub and renamed the
Michigan Palace. The club was not a success, so it was reinvented by yet
another owner as a rock concert venue in 1973.3 

The rock shows drew crowds for a few years, but the theater
suffered from the hard wear and tear of hosting thousands of partying
concert-goers. By this point, it seemed that demolition was the only option,
but the structural integrity of the office building adjacent would be destroyed
with the theater. By the mid-1970s, the owners were struggling to keep tenants
who still rented office space in the adjacent structure and complained about
the lack of parking in the area. An unusual decision was reached: they would gut
the theater and convert the space into a parking garage. 3

Today, the former theater is a magnet for urban explorers
taking photographs of one of Detroit’s most well-known sites of urban decay and
“ruin porn.” In another twist of ironic fate, the empty, crumbling stage where
some of the first movies were shown has now been the backdrop for several movie
scenes; it has featured in movies like 8
Mile, The Island, and Alex Cross. 4

The Michigan Theatre opened on August 23, 1926, as one of the finest movie palaces in Detroit. It was constructed at a cost of $3.5 million and designed by Cornelius and George Rapp, architects renowned for their grand movie palaces around the country. The French Renaissance theater contained an opulent lobby almost a block long and four-stories high, while the auditorium could seat over 4,000. When the theater closed in 1971, it was renamed the Michigan Palace and turned into a nightclub and rock concert venue, but these ventures proved unsuccessful. The space was finally converted into a unique parking garage for the attached office building, somewhat oddly preserving the decaying remains of the magnificent former theater. 

Michigan Theatre

Paid for by the
Book brothers, real estate entrepreneurs and one of Detroit’s wealthiest
families, the Book Building started as a modest 13-story office building in
1917. It was the first major commercial space designed by renowned architect
Louis Kamper, who would go on to design many of Detroit’s iconic buildings. The
finished product was a beautiful Italian Renaissance building, but it just wasn’t
enough for the Book brothers. They controlled the majority of the real estate
on Washington Blvd and wanted to make the street replicate the grand boulevards
in Europe, but with the tallest skyscraper the city had ever seen, surpassing
all others being built at that time. 1 The Book Tower was constructed adjacent to the Book
Building, and when it opened in 1926, it became the tallest building in Detroit
at 475 feet. This was Kamper’s first skyscraper though, and architectural
critics have not been kind to his design. He used the classic flourishing, ornamental
details of the Italian Renaissance that he knew so well…on a building so tall
that they couldn’t be appreciated. There are massive amounts of sculptural work
set throughout the building, including a now-famous set of twelve nude women
around the middle. Topped with a copper roof, the soft limestone exterior was not
an ideal material choice for polluted city life. What’s more, he forgot to
include a fire escape into the design, so it had to be slapped onto the outside,
zig-zagging down the entire length of the building. 2 The Book Building and Tower were fortunate to be placed on
Washington Boulevard, which proved to be a bustling success for Detroit (the
Book brothers would have been proud), and this kept the building occupied for
awhile even into the more troubled years for Detroit. However, for decades it
has also passed through various owners who couldn’t seem to manage to stay out
of debt, especially when it came to unpaid utility bills. In 2015, billionaire
Dan Gilbert of Bedrock Real Estate Services bought an entire city block that
includes the Book Building and Tower, with plans to create a mixed use of
retail, office and residential tenants. 3

A mishmash of styles, built a decade apart, the Book Building and Tower are an icon of Washington Boulevard Historic District. The Book Building began as a modest office building in 1917 paid for by the Book brothers. It was the first commercial space completed by famous Detroit architect Louis Kamper. In 1926, Kamper again designed the Book Tower addition, which became the tallest structure in Detroit at the time at 475 feet. However, it has been hailed as an odd piece of architecture since it was built, as it was the first skyscraper design for Kamper, who placed intricate Italian Renaissance details on a building too tall to be appreciated. 

The Book Building and Tower

A hotel has stood on this site in Detroit since around 1830; the first known hotel was in the house of an early settler
named Nathanial Champ. In 1852, another hotel was built known as Blindbury’s
Hotel and then the Antisdel, which became one of the finest hotels in the city.1 In 1888, Daniel Scotten, who made
his fortune in the tobacco industry, built the Cadillac Hotel next to the
Antisdel. He bought and tore down the Antisdel in order to make room for an
addition, and the Cadillac’s prestigious reputation grew. Over the course of
its lifetime, five different US Presidents stayed at the Cadillac.2 The Book brothers, James, Herbert, and Frank, were real
estate entrepreneurs from one of Detroit’s wealthiest families. They had a grand
vision to turn Washington Boulevard into the “Fifth Avenue of the Midwest.” They
bought the Cadillac Hotel in 1917, and tore the outdated building down. They hired
architect Louis Kamper to create a new hotel more fitting to their master plan
for the boulevard: a skyscraper 33 stories high that would hold the distinction of being the tallest hotel in the world. Kamper designed an Italian Renaissance exterior, with statues facing
Michigan Ave of four of Detroit’s major historic figures: Revolutionary General
Anthony Wayne, founder Antoine De Le Mothe Cadillac, Chief Pontiac, and civic
leader Robert Navarre. Three copper terraced pyramids decorate the top.2 The hotel's informative
booklet, "A Legend Returns," tells about the amenities of the hotel at the time: 

<blockquote>“The 1924 grand opening of the hotel
showcased 1,136 of the most modern rooms of the time, all with private baths
(an enormous luxury for that era); the most technologically advanced heating and
electrical systems; five restaurants (including the men’s only English Grille);
an eight-seat woman’s beauty shop; a 20-seat men’s barber shop; tea room; cigar
stand and a team of 36 telephone operators to handle calls for 1500 telephones.
The opening night gala entertained 2,000 people with a feast from a team of 200
French chefs.”3 </blockquote>

At the time, it cost $14 million to build,
or about $200 million today. The Book-Cadillac opened on December 8, 1924. The hotel was
host to seven US Presidents and many celebrities over the years, including Martin
Luther King, Jr, Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth.3
Its two grand ballrooms were a major social center, hosting galas and
conventions, and its Italian Garden Room drew visitors to marvel at its
beautiful two-story glass ceiling. The hotel was featured in the 1948 film State of the Union with Spencer Tracy
and Katherine Hepburn. A radio station broadcast from the top floor of the
building for years.4 The hotel fell on hard times and suffered declining
business during the Great Depression. The Book brothers lost their ownership of
the building in 1931, and it changed hands many times throughout the next
several decades. At one point it was rebranded as a Sheraton and then a
Radisson. The grand hotel could not survive Detroit’s decline in the latter
half of the last century, and the doors were closed in 1984.4 The Book-Cadillac stood vacant downtown for over
20 years. In 2006, The Ferchill Group, LLC of Cleveland, Ohio, worked with city
leaders to redevelop the historic landmark. The entire structure was gutted. After
a two-year renovation costing $180 million, the Westin Book Cadillac opened its
doors on October 6, 2008. The 89,000 square foot building now has 458 rooms, as
well as seven floors of luxury condos.3

The Book-Cadillac Hotel was the tallest hotel in the world and the tallest building in Detroit when it opened on December 8, 1924. Designed by famous Detroit architect Louis Kamper, the Italian Renaissance structure had 33 floors, 1,136 rooms (book official), a grand ballroom, five restaurants, and many modern amenities for the time. It was one of the grandest hotels in the city, hosting high-class social events and important celebrity guests for decades. The economic downturn of Detroit hit the hotel’s business hard, and it closed its doors in 1984. After nearly two decades of vacancy followed by a $200 million renovation, the hotel finally reopened in 2008 as the West Book Cadillac Hotel. 

Book-Cadillac Hotel

Michigan Territory was established in 1805 with Detroit as
its capital. A territorial courthouse was erected on the corner of State and
Griswold Streets. The cornerstone was laid on September 22, 1823, and it opened
for operations on May 5, 1828. This building would later serve as Michigan’s
first state capitol when Michigan joined the Union on January 26, 1837. The
capitol was designed by architect Obel Wait in a Greek Revival style, with six Ionic
columnns along a portico and a central tower 140 feet high. It was 60 feet by 90
feet, constructed out of red brick, and cost $24,500 (roughly $600,000 today).1 The
building held offices and meeting spaces for the three branches of government.
One newspaper from the era said that the building was “a superb ornament to
Detroit, the rising metropolis of Michigan.”2 This capitol was where Michigan’s
first constitution was drafted and approved, and it was where the Michigan
Legislature held its first session. The state’s first governor, 25-year-old
Stevens Thomson Mason, took his oath of office in the capitol. (He also has the
distinction of being the youngest governor ever elected in the United States to
date.)2 In 1846, the Michigan Legislature voted to move the capital
to Lansing, which was at the time a very small and insignificant settlement.
However, it was more centrally located within the state and farther away from
the threat of an attack from British Canada (see Clio entry “Lansing’s First
Capitol” for more information). The last day the Detroit building served as
Michigan’s capitol was March 17, 1847. After that, the building became Union
High School, the only high school in Detroit at the time. It also housed the
first Detroit Public Library from 1865 to 1877. In 1870 and 1875, front and
back additions were made to the building and two floors were added as well,
faced in stone. The high school was destroyed by a fire on January 27, 1893.3 The half-acre triangular space was converted into the Capitol
Park the next year. The park served as a transportation hub for streetcars and
later buses for many years. In 1905, the remains of Michigan’s first governor, Stevens
Thomson Mason, were moved from New York and interred in a place of honor in
Capitol Park. A statue of Governor Mason was placed over the grave. (The grave
and statue were relocated within the park in 1955 and again in 2010 to adjust
for reconstruction.)2 A scale model of the original capitol is located in the
park, along with several historic markers. Capitol Park is the center of a one
block radius of historic buildings that is known as Capitol Park Heritage
District.

Michigan became a territory of the U.S. in 1805, and Detroit was named its territorial capital. A brick Greek Revival building was constructed in 1828 to serve as the territorial courthouse. When Michigan gained statehood in 1837, it would become Michigan's first state capitol. The building was where Michigan's first constitution was drafted and where its first elected governor took his oath of office. The legislature voted to move the state capital to Lansing in 1846. The building was used as a high school from 1847 to 1893, when it was destroyed by fire. Rather than rebuild another school or public building, the space became Capitol Park for public enjoyment.

Michigan's First Capitol, 1828-1847

A tailor from Orange County, New York, Seymour Finney moved
to Detroit in 1834. Working his way up from clerk to manager of the Franklin
House, Finney opened his own business, the Finney Hotel, in 1850 [1; 4]. The
hotel's brick barn quickly became an important station of the Underground
Railroad as Finney, his son Seymour, Jr., and other anti-slavery citizens of Michigan
helped former slaves escape via the Detroit River to Canada [1; 3]. Among
Finney's Detroit abolitionist allies were Alanson Sheley, Augustus Buhl, Jacob
Howard, Zachariah Chandler, Charles C. Foote, and African American William
Lambert [1]. The location of Finney's Barn, at the northern end of Michigan's
Underground Railroad routes, near the river, made it a station of vital
importance—and one of hope, since any escaped slave who made it as far as the
barn was relatively safe [2; 4]. Once in the barn, refugees hid in the hayloft
or in false-bottomed wagons until nightfall, when they were transported to and
across the river. Finney retired from his hotel business in 1864 and began
lecturing for racial equality, and the barn quickly made it into the history
books as a key Underground Railroad station [2].



Unfortunately, the barn was razed in 1892 to make way for
the Detroit Chamber of Commerce building, which now bears the 1926 plaque
designating the site as Detroit's Underground Railway Station (inscription
below) [2].

&nbsp;

Historic Marker
Inscriptions:Finney Barn

Seymour Finney conducted one of
the principal passenger depots of the underground railroad in the Detroit area.
Finney, a tailor by trade, later became a hotel-keeper, and it was in this
capacity that he assisted fugitive slaves in the era prior to 1861. In 1850 he
purchased a site where in later years stood the Finney Hotel, and also erected
a large barn which he operated along with his tavern. Strongly sympathetic to
the abolitionist cause, Finney employed every means to assist escaping slaves
across the river into Canada. Detroit was one of the most important
"stations" en route to Canada; if a fugitive reached this city, he
was comparatively safe. Finney Barn served as a hiding-place for runaways until
they could reach the river bank and freedom. / Erected 1980 by
Michigan History Division-Department of State. (Marker Number S0069.) [4]

&nbsp;

Detroit's Underground Railway Station

This tablet marks the site of Detroit's "Underground
Railway Station" / A large brick building known as "The Finney House
Barn," was located here and used as a depot for helping slaves gain
freedom into Canada from 1833 until the Civil War. Detroit was one of the
important "stations," on the route to Canada and the Anti-Slavery
Society organized in 1837, aided in the liberation of thousands of slaves. / Erected 1926 [3].

A tailor from Orange County, New York, Seymour Finney moved to Detroit in 1834. Finney opened his own business, the Finney Hotel, in 1850 [1; 4]. The hotel's brick barn quickly became an important station of the Underground Railroad as Finney, his son Seymour, Jr., and other anti-slavery citizens of Michigan helped former slaves escape via the Detroit River to Canada [1; 3]. The location of Finney's Barn, at the northern end of Michigan's Underground Railroad routes, near the river, made it a station of vital importance [2]. Unfortunately, the barn was razed in 1892 to make way for the Detroit Chamber of Commerce building, which now bears a 1926 plaque designating the site as Detroit's Underground Railway Station [2].

Finney Barn - Detroit Underground Railroad Station

David Stott was born in England in 1853 and moved with his
family to Detroit as a teenager. He started in flour milling at a young age and
eventually became president of his own company, the David Stott Flour Mills.
Between the milling company and several other ventures, including a realty
company, he became very wealthy. The Stott Realty
Company would build the skyscraper that bears his name in 1929.1 Architects John
Donaldson and Walter Meier were commissioned with the work and may have gotten
their inspiration from the Chicago Tribune Tower. The design could also have
been influenced by German Expressionism, both because this was a popular style in
the 1920s and because Donaldson had studied architecture for a time in Germany.1 The diamonds and zig-zags on the columnns and the
window grilles above are a mix of Classical Greek and Art Deco.2 The David Stott Building is 38 stories and 436 feet high
with 204,000 square feet.2 It was the fourth-tallest building in Detroit
when it was built.3 At the twenty-third floor, there are tiered setbacks going
the rest of the way up.2 The exterior is tan-orange brick, red granite, marble,
limestone, and terra-cotta.1 It features stone work by famous sculptor Corrado
Parducci. In The American Skyscraper,
1850-1940: A Celebration of Height, Joseph Korom says the following about
the David Stott Building’s expert design: “The masterful handling of the building’s
various components, its pleats and retreats inward, is nothing short of
masterful. The skyscraper’s strong vertical lines are not visually ‘fractured’
at setback levels, but rather, they join the vertical thrust quickly and
adeptly on the next. These brick piers rise unbroken from top to bottom—the ultimate
vertical rise, a rise without one dissenting line, a thing of beauty.”1 Inside,
the David Stott Building had an impressive six elevators that could speed to
the top floors in less than 30 seconds.3 Because the building opened in June of 1929, it
was one of the last great skyscrapers built in Detroit before other
construction was stalled with the Great Depression. It cost $3.5 million to
build, but was sold only the next year for $1.3 million. The building was able
to gain some tenants over the years, but it was never fully occupied and always
seemed to be just “hanging on.”3 In February 2015, a pipe burst due
to record low temperatures, filling the bottom two floors with millions of
gallons of water.4 Despite this, the building was sold just a few months later to
Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans, for $15 million. Gilbert has put billions
into saving and renovating various structures around Detroit in recent years.5

The David Stott Building opened on June 17, 1929, one of the last great skyscrapers built in Detroit during the Roaring Twenties before the stock market crash and the Great Depression. It was named after David Stott, an Englishman who had created a large fortune in flour milling and real estate speculation. Designed by the architectural firm of Donaldson & Meier, the Art Deco building is 38 stories high with a brick, granite, limestone, marble, and terra cotta exterior. It has artistic tiered setbacks at the top and features stone carving by sculptor Corrado Parducci. The building has suffered from low-vacancy and flooding in recent years, but was purchased by Dan Gilbert in 2015 with plans to renovate into a mixed-use development. 

David Stott Building

The area's fortunes have mirrored the fortune of the city, rising in value through the boom years of postwar Detroit and waning in value as residents abandoned the downtown area in the late 20th century. With an ambitious urban redevelopment plan that included millions in public and private investment throughout the downtown area, the city announced that plans to redevelop this two-square-block area into one f the finest public parks in the world. The new Campus Maritus Park was completed in 2004. In addition to weekly festivals and daily events throughout the park, the corner of Monroe and Woodward Ave still serves as the "Point of Origin" for the city, as each of the city;s major streets have their origin at this central plaza.

The historic center of Detroit, Campus Martius was laid out as the center of the city following the fire of 1805 that destroyed many of the first buildings in the area. Campus Maritus translates to "military ground"- a reference to this area's original use as training ground for the militia in the late 1700s. Until 1847, when the city government voted to fill in the once-marshy area in a major engineering project, the ground around Campus Maritus was of little commercial value.

Campus Martius Park

Fort Lernoult was built in 1778-79 by the British military
in order to defend Detroit from U.S. forces during the Revolutionary War. Fort
Lernoult was meant to replace Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit, which had defended
Detroit under French rule (see separate Clio entry on Fort Pontchartrain). Fort
Pontchartrain, later known as Fort Detroit, had fallen into disrepair, and its
location was too vulnerable to an attack. Major Richard Lernoult, commander of
the British troops in Detroit, ordered a new fort built on a hill behind the
old one, with a more strategic position. Lernoult chose Captain Henry Bird to
design and begin construction of the new fortification in November 1778. With
the threat of attack imminent, crews worked tirelessly through the winter until
it was completed the following April. The fort was located near the intersection of
what is now Fort and Shelby Streets in downtown Detroit, between
Washington Blvd and Griswold St.1 Fort Lernoult covered an area of about three acres just
north of the small village below, connected to the settlement by tall fences.
It “had earthen ramparts eleven feet high, twenty-six feet thick at the base,
and twelve feet wide at the top of the parapet. The land surrounding the new
fort was cleared so that the enemy would have no cover during an attack. There
was only one gate, on the south or town side, and it was protected by a
blockhouse and a drawbridge. Lernoult stripped the old fort and the naval
vessels on the river of their guns and requisitioned more from Quebec. Inside
the fort, a number of buildings were put up and a well was dug to ensure a
fresh supply of water. Finally, pickets were erected to extend from the corners
of the new fort down to the east and west walls of the town."2 The attack that Major Lernoult feared never came as American
forces were never in a position to capture such a defense. However, in 1783,
after the Revolutionary War, a formal peace treaty was signed which granted the
U.S. all of the Northwest Territories, including Detroit. British forces were slow to give up the
position though, as Detroit was still a valuable center for trade. British
occupation of the fort continued until July 11, 1796, when 65
troops arrived to assert their claim on Detroit. They took the fort and hoisted
the American flag above the city of Detroit for the first time.1 In 1805, Detroit was named capital of the Michigan Territory,
and the fort was renamed Fort Detroit. There were difficult times ahead for the
city though. In June of that year, a fire swept through the city, destroying
everything except the fort, which was used as a haven for the homeless. During
the War of 1812, Fort Detroit was captured by the British in an unforeseen
attack. In September of 1813, Americans again regained control of the city. They
renamed it Fort Shelby after Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby, who assisted in
the recapture.1 As the city grew, the fur trade became less important and the threat of attack
diminished, the military moved troops from Fort Shelby. The last troops left in
1826, and Fort Shelby was sold to the City of Detroit. The following year, the fort
was torn down to make way for urban expansion. The destruction of the fort signaled
Detroit’s shift from a small frontier town to its beginnings as an important
metropolis. There is a historical marker on the Comerica Bank building
at the corner of Shelby and Fort St, which indicates the location of the fort’s
southwest bastion. Construction on several buildings downtown in the 1960s
revealed thousands of artifacts from the site, including the fort’s wooden flagpole.
The artifacts are now held at the Gordon L. Grosscup Museum of Anthropology at
Wayne State University. 3

Fort Lernoult, also known as Fort Detroit and Fort Shelby, was the second fort built to guard the frontier settlement of Detroit. Established by British soldiers in 1778, the fort replaced Fort Pontchartrain, a French garrison that had been established in 1701 and had fallen into disrepair. Fort Lernoult was the first place where the American flag was flown over Detroit when the U.S. took control in 1796, and it was the only structure to survive the fire of 1805 that destroyed the village. The fort was recaptured by the British during the War of 1812. When the Americans again took control the next year, they renamed it Fort Shelby. As the village rebuilt and the threat of invasion became more remote, city leaders decided to raze the fort in 1827. The destruction of the fort is symbolic of Detroit's transition from a frontier outpost to an important commercial city in the early 19th century.  

Fort Lernoult

When Cobo Arena was completed, the Detroit Pistons moved from Olympia Stadium which they had shared with the Detroit Red Wings at the time. Cobo Arena was opened in 1960, and the pistons moved in starting the 1961 season there. The Pistons didn't have a ton of success while at Cobo, making the playoffs only 9 times, and never making it out of the first round. The pistons played at Cobo until the 1978 season, when they were moved to the the Pontiac Silverdome, also home of the Detroit Lions. At that time, future mayor Dave Bing played for the Detroit Pistons.  The Arena held various concerts until 2009. Every sitting President of the United States since 1960 to 2008 has addressed a convention or at least attended an event in the Cobo Center. In 2012, city leaders decided to tear down the wall that was separating the Cobo Center and the Cobo Arena and demolish the former arena to expand the convention center. Iconic moments such as KISS playing Detroit Rock City at Cobo Arena and the audio of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech can be found below.

Opened in 1929, the Guardian Building is one of Detroit’s
most magnificent art deco skyscrapers. Designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1989, the Guardian Building was designed by Wirt C. Rowland of the leading
Detroit architecture firm Smith, Hinchman &amp; Grylls. The cathedral theme is
emphasized on the exterior by the two towers at each end of the building
connected by a somewhat lower navelike block. The theme is played out in the
interior with the tall banking lobby designed as a nave with side aisles. A
specially formulated orange brick, known as Guardian brick, clads the steel
frame. Brilliantly colored terra-cotta, glazed tile, and gold-stained glass and
metal decorate it inside and out. The Guardian Building was the world’s tallest
masonry structure when it was completed.

Originally named the Union Guardian Building, this building
was created for the Union Trust Co. when it required more space after a merger
with the equally huge National Bank of Commerce. By the time the building was
completed, Union Trust had bought up several other banks and become the
Guardian Detroit Union Group, which held 40% of Detroit’s banking resources.
But the Great Depression hit Detroit — and the bank — hard. In 1932, the bank
went into receivership as the New Union Building Corp. 

During World War II, the building was used as a command
center for the Army as it coordinated ordinance production. After the War and until
the present day , the building has served various tenants as an office building
in downtown Detroit.&nbsp;

Nicknamed the “Cathedral of Commerce,” the Guardian Building is one of the most expressive Art Deco skyscrapers ever built. Built in 1928 and finished in 1929, the building was originally called the Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture, including art modern designs. The main frame of the skyscraper raises 36 stories, capped by two asymmetric spires, one extending for four additional stories.  

Guardian Building

<h4>The Spirit of Detroit</h4>
In the late 1950s, the City of Detroit was in its heyday with the car industry, music scene, and other industries booming. When the new City County building was being constructed, Detroit’s (and Michigan’s) most famous sculptor, Marshall Fredericks, was commissioned to create an appropriate statue.&nbsp;Fredericks designed&nbsp;the main seated figure of the statue to represent Man. In the left hand of the statue is a golden orb representing God, while in the right hand is a family group, including a mother, father, and child. In Frederick’s view, the inclusion of the family was to represent the noblest human relationship. In fact, the plaque on the statue reads, “Through the spirit of man is manifested in the family, the noblest human relationship.” The marble backdrop features the seals of the City of Detroit and Wayne County.1&nbsp;
As the statue rusted over the years, it took on a distinct green color, giving it the alias “Jolly Green Giant.” The statue has also been given a personification, such as on April 19, 1963, when two pranksters painted large green footprints leading from the statue to the “Passo di Danzo” statue nearby, which showcases a nude female ballet dancer. This prank hinted at the statue dating scene in downtown Detroit.
Additionally, the Spirit of Detroit statue donned a Red Wings jersey in celebration of the teams Stanley Cup win in 1997. It has since become tradition for the statue to wear the jersey whenever the Red Wings are victorious.2&nbsp;
<h4>Inscription on the Statue</h4>
The inscription on the symbol wall is from II Corinthians, 3:17 "Now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
The sculpture by Marshall Fredericks was designed to continue the thought conveyed by the inscription and reflects in its conception the spirit underlying all human ideals - The relationship of God to Man.
The main figure represents the spirit of man. In his left hand he holds a symbol of God, and in his right hand, a family group: Father, mother, and child. The artist expresses the concept that God, through the spirit of man, is manifested in the family, the noblest human relationship.3

Sitting on the corner of Woodward Avenue and East Larned Street in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, the Spirit of Detroit is a large bronze statue that represents the soul and spirit of the city. Dedicated in 1958, the Spirit of Detroit statue represents both the modern and historical essence of the city. Additionally, the statue represents the city’s reputation for sports by sporting a jersey if a particular team is in the playoffs. The bronze statue is also featured on the logo of many of the city’s departments, and it is certainly one of the city's more prolific landmarks in the downtown area.

The statue was built by Metro Detroit sculptor Marshall Fredericks at a cost of $58,000 in 1958, which equates to about $467,750 today. It sits atop a 60-ton marble base and it is 26-feet tall, making the Spirit of Detroit the largest bronze cast monument made anywhere in the world since the Renaissance. The casting for the statue was conducted in Oslo, Norway. 

Spirit of Detroit

The Monument to Joe Louis consists of a 24-foot-long cast bronze forearm and fist hung by cables from a 24-foot-tall steel pyramidal framework. Weighing in at 8,000 pounds, it was commissioned by the Detroit Institute of Arts with a $350,000 grant from Sports Illustrated Magazine to honor Detroit native Joe Louis. It stands in a prominent place in downtown Detroit, at the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson Avenues.A Los Angeles Times article published on the day of the sculpture’s dedication begins with the following quote from a “bewildered” spectator: “I know money is tight, but you would think the city could have afforded a whole statue.”1 Several other disgruntled locals were interviewed after seeing the sculpture, and it has inspired a mixed reaction ever since. Some believe that more traditional full-body statue would have been a better tribute—or at least an arm with a boxing glove on it. Others say that the Black fist of Black militant power movements comes to mind, also not fitting for a racially-divided city. One official from the Detroit Institute of Arts, which commissioned the sculpture, said that the fist may show strength and determination, but it could also be taken as too aggressive. Still, as time has passed, there are plenty who do appreciate the monument as an icon of Detroit and a source of pride. The Life of Joseph Louis BarrowJoseph Louis Barrow was born on May 13, 1914 in Alabama. His impoverished parents moved the family to Detroit in 1924. While he going to vocational school to be a cabinet-maker, a classmate suggested that he try boxing. He joined a boxing gym under the name Joe Louis so that his mother would not find out that he was misusing money intended for his violin lessons. Joe started out as a lightweight and showed promise early on. In 1935, he turned to professional boxing and won twelve contests, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. That year, he also fought Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight champion, in Yankee Stadium.From 1934 to 1951, Joe Louis fought 71 matches and won 68 of them, 54 by knockout. To this day, he holds the record as the longest reining heavyweight champion in boxing history. He earned the nickname “The Brown Bomber.” One of Louis’ most memorable match-ups was against Germany’s Max Schmeling. Louis lost his first match to Schmeling in 1936, but he later defeated him by knockout in a rematch on June 22, 1938. This match took on political and international significance as the two men represented Germany’s Nazi regime and America’s democratic ideals. Louis would go on to join the US Army in 1942 and donate money to the military relief effort, further endearing him to the general American public.Louis’ success as a boxer transcended racial barriers. He was a hero to the segregated African-American population, but he was also the first US Black athlete to appeal to whites. As his son Joe Louis Jr. later said, “What my father did was enable white America to think of him as an American, not as a Black. By winning, he became white America's first Black hero.”2 At a time when African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens, he was a source of immense pride. “His position at the top of his sport, his celebrity status, and his public image helped bolster the confidence of a people whose heroes were rarely accorded white attention or respect. In the difficult time of war his decision to cooperate with and become a symbol of a government that was far from fair to him and his people offered a constructive, albeit imperfect, course of action.”2Despite his success, Joe Louis was known as a humble and generous man. Like the monument in his name, Louis was not without controversy though. He was known as a womanizer and philanderer, marrying four times, twice to his first wife. He became addicted in cocaine, suffered from mental illness, and struggled to stay afloat financially for the rest of his life after retirement. He passed away on April 12, 1981 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The dedication of the “Monument to Joe Louis,” informally known by locals as “The Fist,” took place on October 16, 1986. The sculpture is a memorial to Joe Louis, an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. Created by Mexican-American sculptor Robert Graham, the artwork symbolizes a correlation between a boxer’s closed fist and the fight against racial injustice. The sculpture has become an icon of Detroit within Harrt Plaza Riverfront Park, which opened in 1975 and was named after Senator Phillip A. Hart. The plaza also includes a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. recognizing the first time he delivered the lines “I Have a Dream” on June 20, 1963, at Detroit's Cobo Hall which was located nearby. King used the phrase in several speeches prior to his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

"The Fist" Monument to Joe Louis

<h4>Detroit’s Role in the Underground Railroad</h4>
Throughout the informal underground railroad, with taverns and homes and barns as “stations,” helpers as “conductors,” and runaway slaves as “passengers” or “baggage,” Detroit has always remained at the forefront. The city even earned the name of “Doorway to Freedom.” Beginning in the late 18th-century and early 19th century, Detroit’s geographical location in combination with its community of radicalized African Americans and abolitionist sympathizers served as an integral passing point into Canada. Having a safe passage into Canada was especially important after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
With the help of Seymour Finney, owner of the Finney Hotel, and feminist writer Elizabeth Chandler, the city gave birth to a widespread anti-slavery society. George de Baptiste, a free man from Virginia who moved to Detroit as an adult, formed a&nbsp;secret organization known as the African-American Mysteries or Order of the Men of Oppression, and Baptiste used boats to secretly transport passengers across the river. Detroit was also home to abolitionist leaders such as John Brown, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, who worked with the Second Baptist Members of the congregation to form two other anti-slavery organizations, the Amherstburg Baptist Association and the Canadian Anti-Slavery Baptist Organization.1
The community and resources for abolition, aiding the Underground Railroad, were prolific in Detroit, and estimates state that over 45,000 runaway slaves passed through Detroit.&nbsp;
<h4>The Gateway to Freedom Memorial</h4>
Before creating the Gateway to Freedom Memorial, Sculptor Ed Dwight played a pivotal role in contemporary African American society. The son of Ed Dwight, Sr., a second baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs of the segregated Negro League, Ed Dwight Jr. was the first African American accepted into the US astronaut training program in 1962 after a recommendation from President John F. Kennedy. However, he resigned from the program in 1966 and reclaimed his passion for art in 1974. Dwight’s first professional job was to create a sculpture for the Colorado capitol building. After other major projects aimed at&nbsp;documenting the often unknown contributions of African Americans, Dwight won a design competition in 2001 from Detroit 300, a non-profit group that was organizing Detroit’s tricentennial.&nbsp;
Dedicated on October 20, 2001, the Gateway to Freedom memorial features eight larger-than-life figures getting ready to cross the river into freedom. George de Baptiste is at the center, pointing a finger toward Canada. Next to Baptiste is a woman, man, and infant, and in the Canada memorial, a male and female figure have their backs facing the US, facing into the Promised Land.2 &nbsp;
<h4>Inscription on ‘The Gateway to Freedom’ Marker</h4>
Until Emancipation, Detroit and the Detroit River community served as the gateway to freedom for thousands of African American people escaping enslavement. Detroit was one of the largest terminals of the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists aiding enslaved people seeking freedom. Detroit's Underground Railroad code name was Midnight. At first, Michigan was a destination for freedom seekers, but Canada became a safer sanctuary after slavery was abolished there in 1834. With passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, many runaways left their homes in Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to remain free. Some returned after Emancipation in 1863.
The successful operation of Detroit's Underground Railroad was due to the effort and cooperation of diverse groups of people, including people of African descent, Whites, and North American Indians. This legacy of freedom is a vital part of Detroit and its history.3

Historians estimate that as many as 45,000 runaway slaves passed through Detroit on their way to freedom in Canada. Although Michigan was a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it possible for slave catchers (or any white person) to claim that an African American was a runaway slave pending the decision of a special court that required only the testimony of one white person. The Fugitive Slave Law also barred the accused from defending themselves, a situation that caused many free African Americans to leave the nation of their birth and seek refuge in Canada. The anti-slavery movement in Detroit comprised of African Americans, foreign and native-born whites, and Native Americans who defied the law and worked together to provide safety for thousands of women, men, and children. 

Sculpted by Ed Dwight and dedicated on October 20, 2001, the Gateway to Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad pays tribute to the city’s contribution and the thousands of railroad conductors who made freedom possible. Several routes diverged on Detroit, code name “Midnight,” and for many, the city was the final destination for freedom seekers until the mid-1830s. After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, many of the runaways then moved to Canada. Thus, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Canada, the second part of the memorial faces the Gateway to Freedom Memorial in Detroit. From characters such as Peter Denison, who returned to Detroit to lead a Black militia, to Thornton and Ruth Blackburn, this memorial pays tributes to Americans who stood for freedom in an era of slavery. 

Spirit of Detroit: Woodward Ave to the Detroit River

Cobo Center and Cobo Hall

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information