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}}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.{{citation | title = Washington Boulevard Historic District | publisher = Detroit Historical Society | url =weblink}}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.{{citation | title = Washington Boulevard Historic District | publisher = Detroit1701 | url =weblink}}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.{| class="wikitable"! rowspan="2" align=center| Address! colspan="2" align=center| Building name! rowspan="2" align=center| Building use! rowspan="2" align=center| Year built! rowspan="2" align=center| Architectural style! rowspan="2" align=center| Floors! rowspan="2" align=center| Notes! West side of street! East side of street

Detroit River

Civic Center Drive

| 1 Washington Boulevard| Cobo Center|| Convention center| 1960

Modern architecture>modern| 5| Expanded 1989, 2012 (expected completion 2015)

| 2 Washington Boulevard|| Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront| Hotel| 1965

Modern architecture>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 (Detroit)>Marquette Building| Government and commercial| 1905	Chicago school (architecture)>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 architecture>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/Streamline Moderne>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 architecture>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 (architecture)>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 (architecture)>Chicago school| 23| Constructed as offices and converted to apartments in the 1980s

| 1234 Washington Boulevard|

St. Aloysius Catholic Church (Detroit, Michigan)>St. Aloysius Catholic Church and Chancery Building| church and office building| 1924	Romanesque Revival architecture>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 (architecture)>Chicago school| 10|

Grand River Avenue

| 1410 Washington Boulevard|

Industrial Building (Detroit)>Industrial Building| Apartments| 1929	Art Deco/Streamline Moderne>Art Moderne| 22| Constructed as office and converted into apartments in the 1980s

| 1420 Washington Boulevard|| Julian C. Madison Building| Offices| 1906

Chicago school (architecture)>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 architecture>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

File:Washington Boulevard Historic District, detroit.jpg|Washington Blvd. looking south from Clifford StreetFile:Detroit Washington Blvd.jpg|St. Aloysius Church and Chancery on Washington Blvd.File:Himelhoch Condos, Detroit Washing Boulevard.jpg|Himelhoch buildingFile:Washington Blvd Historic District from Grand Circus Park.jpg|View from Grand Circus ParkFile:BookCadillac1.jpg|The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel is part of the historic districtFile:IndustrialStevenapartmentDetroit.jpg|Industrial-Stevens Apartments, another 1920s-era buildingFile:Old map 1807 plan.jpg|Augustus Woodward's plan following the 1805 fire for Detroit's Baroque-styled radial avenues and Grand Circus ParkFile:Macomb Statue, Washington Park (NBY 5616).jpg|Statue of Alexander Macomb, at the intersection of Michigan Avenue

See also

References and further reading

{{reflist}}

• BOOK, Eric J. Hill, Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher, AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture, 2002, Wayne State University Press, 0-8143-3120-3, registration,weblink

External links

{{commons category|Washington Boulevard Historic District}}

• City of Detroit Planning and Development Department. Washington Boulevard Historic District
• Google Maps location

{{Downtown Detroit}}{{Metro Detroit Surface Streets}}{{Architecture of metropolitan Detroit}}{{Detroit Neighborhoods}}