# Washington Boulevard Historic District

Washington Boulevard Historic District is a multi-block area of downtown Detroit, Michigan. It consists of structures facing Washington Boulevard between State and Clifford Streets. In 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It includes the Book-Cadillac Hotel, the Book Tower, the Industrial Building, and Detroit City Apartments among other architecturally significant buildings. Washington Boulevard is one of the city's main boulevards and part of Augustus Woodward's 1807-design for the city. Because Woodward's plan was never completed, the boulevard contains a sharp curve south of Michigan Avenue where it was connected to an existing street.
The street was broadened and ornamented in the early part of the 20th century. The development was inspired by the City Beautiful movement and financed by J. Burgess Book Jr. and designed by Louis Kamper. It was to resemble New York's Fifth Avenue and European boulevards. A sculpture lined park between two one-way streets decorated a shopping district and upscale residential neighborhood Edward H. Bennett, a well known master planner, turned Washington Boulevard into a Beaux-Arts streetscape.
In the late 1970s, Washington Boulevard was redesigned with an urban pedestrian mall that included new sculptures and an amphitheater. It has since been restored to its original plan.

## Buildings

This list below shows the information on the buildings located along Washington Boulevard. This list starts at the Detroit River (south end), and heads northbound, terminating at Grand Circus Park.
| Address | Building name | Building name | Building use | Year built | Architectural style | Floors | Notes |
| Address | West side of street | East side of street | Building use | Year built | Architectural style | Floors | Notes |
| Detroit River ||||||||
| Civic Center Drive ||||||||
| 1 Washington Boulevard | Cobo Center | | Convention center | 1960 | modern | 5 | Expanded 1989, 2012 (expected completion 2015) |
| 2 Washington Boulevard | | Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront | Hotel | 1965 | Modern | 25 | Stands on the site of Fort Pontchartrain and originally known as the Hotel Pontchartrain; a second tower remains unbuilt |
| West Larned Street ||||||||
| 250 West Larned | | Detroit Fire Department Headquarters | Government (Fire Department) | 1929 | | 5 | Former Detroit Fire Department headquarters, which relocated in 2013 to the nearby Detroit Public Safety Headquarters in a building that formerly housed the temporary MGM Grand Detroit casino. |
| 243 West Congress Street | | Marquette Building | Government and commercial | 1905 | Chicago school | 10 | Houses offices for the Michigan Secretary of State |
| West Congress Street ||||||||
| 211 West Fort Street | | 211 West Fort Street | Office building | 1963 | Modern | 27 | Constructed as headquarters for Detroit Bank and Trust, later Comerica Bank |
| West Fort Street ||||||||
| 231 West Lafayette Street | | Theodore Levin United States Courthouse | Court House | 1934 | Art Deco/Art Moderne | 10 | |
| 321 West Lafayette Boulevard | Detroit Free Press Building | | newspaper | 1924 | Art Deco | 16 | Connected via a walkway on the third and fourth floors to the adjacent Detroit Club |
| West Lafayette Boulevard ||||||||
| 1020 Washington Boulevard | | Holiday Inn Express Detroit - Downtown | Hotel | 1965 | Modern | 17 | Stands at the site of "219 Michigan Avenue", one of Detroit's first high-rise skyscrapers. |
| 305 Michigan Avenue | Gabriel Richard Building | | offices | 1915 | Chicago school | 10 | Offices for the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit |
| Michigan Avenue ||||||||
| 1114 Washington Boulevard | | Westin Book Cadillac Hotel | Hotel | 1928 | Neo-Renaissance | 29 | Reopened in October 2008 |
| State Street ||||||||
| 234 State Street | | Washington Boulevard Building | Apartment building | 1922 | Chicago school | 23 | Constructed as offices and converted to apartments in the 1980s |
| 1234 Washington Boulevard | | St. Aloysius Catholic Church and Chancery Building | church and office building | 1924 | Romanesque Revival/Gothic Revival | 7 | Offices for the Archdiocese of Detroit |
| 1265 Washington Boulevard | Book Tower | | Offices | 1926 | Academic classicism | 40 | |
| 35 West Grand River Avenue | | Clark Tower Lofts | Apartment building | 1922 | Chicago school | 10 | |
| Grand River Avenue ||||||||
| 1410 Washington Boulevard | | Industrial Building | Apartments | 1929 | Art Deco/Art Moderne | 22 | Constructed as office and converted into apartments in the 1980s |
| 1420 Washington Boulevard | | Julian C. Madison Building | Offices | 1906 | Chicago school | 6 | Home to the Gardner and Schumaker Furniture Store for many years and known as the Gardner-Shumaker Building |
| 1431 Washington Boulevard | Detroit City Apartments | | Apartment building with parking garage | 1981 | Modern | 23 | Constructed as Trolley Plaza Apartments because of the adjacent trolley line |
| Clifford Street ||||||||
| 1514 Washington Boulevard | | Claridge Apartments | Apartment building | 1906 | Modern | 7 | Constructed as the Michigan State Telephone Building and later renovated into apartments and refaced |
| 1545 Woodward Avenue | | Himelhoch Apartments | Apartment building | 1901 | Neo-Renaissance | 8 | The structure was originally built as an office and retail building and was later leased to upscale women's department store Himelhoch Brothers from 1923 to 1977 |
| 1539 Washington Boulevard | Detroit Statler Hotel | | Hotel (demolished) | 1915 | Georgian architecture, a subset of English Renaissance Revival | 18 | Razed in 2005 |
| 1553 Woodward Avenue | | David Whitney Building | Office tower | 1915 | Neo-Renaissance | 19 | Aloft Hotels branded hotel and apartments |
| Park Avenue ||||||||
| Grand Circus Park ||||||||

## Gallery

* Washington Blvd. looking south from Clifford Street
* St. Aloysius Church and Chancery on Washington Blvd.
* Himelhoch building
* View from Grand Circus Park
* The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel is part of the historic district
* Industrial-Stevens Apartments, another 1920s-era building
* Augustus Woodward's plan following the 1805 fire for Detroit's Baroque-styled radial avenues and Grand Circus Park
* Statue of Alexander Macomb, at the intersection of Michigan Avenue