Cary Building (Detroit, Michigan)

Last updated
Cary Building
Cary Building Detroit MI 2.jpg
Cary Building from the east
Location229 Gratiot Avenue
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates 42°20′8″N83°2′49″W / 42.33556°N 83.04694°W / 42.33556; -83.04694 Coordinates: 42°20′8″N83°2′49″W / 42.33556°N 83.04694°W / 42.33556; -83.04694
Built1906
ArchitectRichard E. Raseman
Architectural style Beaux-Arts
Part of Broadway Avenue Historic District (ID04000656)
NRHP reference No. 83003670 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 25, 1983

The Cary Building is a commercial building located at 229 Gratiot Avenue (at the corner of Gratiot and Broadway) in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1]

Contents

History

The Cary Building was built by Frank M. Cary, a speculator in Detroit real estate. [2] Cary hired architect Richard E. Raseman (who also designed the Breitmeyer-Tobin Building, located across Broadway from the Cary, in 1905) to design the structure. The construction of the Cary Building began a transformation of Broadway (then called Miami Avenue) from an upper-class residential area into a fashionable commercial district. [2]

As of 2013, the entire structure is in need of restoration. [3] However, as of 2016, the building is owned by Rock Ventures and has seen some restoration work. [4]

Description

Cary Building, Gratiot facade Cary Building Detroit.jpg
Cary Building, Gratiot façade

The five-story building, designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style and faced with brick, is significant because of its strong use of vertical bays with capping arches. [2] The building is rectangular in plan, measuring 112 feet along Gratiot and 34 feet along Broadway. [5] The street-level storefronts are topped with a stone beltcourse. The middle three floors along the Gratiot facade consist of five, three-story masonry arches with segmental heads. The arches contain recessed Chicago style windows on each floor. The outer bays have two-story round-headed arches trimmed in stone containing recessed double-hung windows, and a pair of double-hung windows above the arch on the fourth floor. The design of the end bays is repeated twice on the Broadway facade. The fifth floor is separated from the fourth by a stone beltcourse, and contains pairs of double-hung windows above each bay. [5]

The original cornice of the building has been removed. The interior of the structure contains office space with no significant features. [5]

Related Research Articles

Sugar Hill Historic District (Detroit) United States historic place

The Sugar Hill Historic District is a historic district in Detroit, Michigan. It contains 14 structures located along three streets: East Forest, Garfield, and East Canfield, between Woodward Avenue on the west and John R. on the east. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Alamo Plaza Historic District United States historic place

The Alamo Plaza Historic District is a historic district of downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It includes the Alamo, which is a separately listed Registered Historic Place and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Cass–Davenport Historic District United States historic place

The Cass–Davenport Historic District is a historic district containing four apartment buildings in Detroit, Michigan, roughly bounded by Cass Avenue, Davenport Street, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The Milner Arms Apartments abuts, but is not within, the district.

Detroit–Columbia Central Office Building United States historic place

The Detroit–Columbia Central Office Building is a building located at 52 Selden Street in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as the Michigan Bell Telephone Exchange. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Cass Park Historic District United States historic place

The Cass Park Historic District is a historic district in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, consisting of 25 buildings along the streets of Temple, Ledyard, and 2nd, surrounding Cass Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and designated a city of Detroit historic district in 2016.

Eddystone Building United States historic place

The Eddystone Building is a former hotel located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan at 100-118 Sproat Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Helen Newberry Nurses Home United States historic place

The Helen Newberry Nurses Home is a multi-unit residential building located at 100 East Willis Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, and is now the Newberry Hall Apartments.

Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District United States historic place

The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a historic district located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Chesterton Commercial Historic District United States historic place

The Chesterton Commercial Historic District is a historic district in Chesterton, Indiana.

United States Post Office (Granville, New York) United States historic place

The U.S. Post Office in Granville, New York, United States, is located on Main Street in the center of the village. It is a brick building serving the ZIP Code 12832, which covers the village and surrounding areas of the Town of Granville.

United Traction Company Building United States historic place

The United Traction Company Building is located on Broadway in Albany, New York, United States. It is a brick building by local architect Marcus T. Reynolds in the Renaissance Revival architectural style, constructed at the end of the 19th century. In 1976 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Four years later it was included as a contributing property when the Downtown Albany Historic District was listed on the Register.

YMCA Building (Albany, New York) United States historic place

The former Young Men's Christian Association Building in Albany, New York, United States, is located on Pearl Street. It was built in the 1880s in the Romanesque Revival architectural style, with an existing neighboring structure annexed to it and a rear addition built in the 1920s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Two years later, when the Downtown Albany Historic District was designated and listed on the Register, YMCA building was further included as a contributing property.

Pioneer State Bank No. 36 United States historic place

The Pioneer State Bank No. 36 is a bank building located at 4046 Huron Street (M-90) in the village of North Branch in North Branch Township in northern Lapeer County, Michigan. The bank stands as the oldest bank institution in North Branch. It was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site on October 23, 1979 and later added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 22, 1982.

Mount Clemens station United States historic place

Mount Clemens station is a historic railroad depot located at 198 Grand Street in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Young Thomas Edison learned telegraphy at this station. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Mount Clemens Station and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973. It is now operated as the Michigan Transit Museum.

St. Vincent de Paul Church (Pontiac, Michigan) United States historic place

The St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, Convent, and School is a historic church located at 46408 Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1987 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Alma Downtown Historic District (Alma, Michigan) United States historic place

The Alma Downtown Historic District is a commercial historic district in Alma, Michigan, roughly located along Superior Street between the Pine River and Prospect Avenue, and along State Street between Center and Downie Streets. Parts of the district were designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975, and the entirety was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. It contains 72 structures, primarily brick commercial buildings, ranging from one to three stories in height and dating from 1874 to the 1960s.

Adams Memorial Building United States historic place

The Adams Memorial Building, now also known as the Derry Opera House, is a historic municipal building at 29 West Broadway near the center of Derry, New Hampshire. Built in 1904, it is a remarkably sophisticated Colonial Revival structure for what was at the time a small community. The building originally housed a variety of municipal offices and the local library. Local events are occasionally held in the theater of the building, located on the upper level. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The theater is now operated by a local nonprofit arts organization.

New Center Commercial Historic District United States historic place

The New Center Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located on Woodward Avenue between Baltimore Street and Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

Central School (East Lansing, Michigan) United States historic place

The Central School is a school building located at 325 West Grand River Avenue in East Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The building now houses Michigan State University's Child Development Laboratories.

Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District United States historic place

The Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District is a group of commercial buildings located along the south side of two blocks of Michigan Avenue, from 3301–3461, in Detroit. This section of buildings is the most intact collection along this stretch of Michigan Avenue. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Cary Building Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine from the city of Detroit
  3. Cox, Sarah (May 10, 2012).The Cary Building Joins A Long List Of Detroit Brick Droppers. Curbed Detroit. Retrieved on November 18, 2013.
  4. Daily Detroit Staff (Oct 12, 2016), QUICK TIP: Check Out The Gary Simmons Art Installation In The Cary Building, Daily Detroit
  5. 1 2 3 Joy H. Bauer (February 1983), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form: Cary Building