Campus Martius: 1906

Campus Martius, 1906
Photo credit: Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress

In yesterday's blog, I talked about the unveiling of the new Campus Martius park in downtown Detroit, set to open on November 19. While surfing the web last night, I came across this beautiful black and white photo that depicts the Campus in 1906. The stunning short building to the right of the street intersections is Detroit's old City Hall. Built in 1871, Detroiters of the time regarded it as the city's finest masterpiece. According to this article in The Detroit News, the structure's greatest characterstic was its tower clock: a massive - yet intricate - piece built especially for Detroit by W.A. Hendrie of Chicago. When the Detriot's City-County building was constrcuted in 1946, the uses for he spectacular old City Hall became numbered. It was razed in 1961 to pave the way for a parking structure.