National Register of Historic Places

Cary Building

Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Listed
November 25, 1983
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
83003670

About this property

The Cary Building is a commercial building located at 229 Gratiot Avenue (at the corner of Gratiot and Broadway) in Downtown Detroit. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Cary Building was built by Frank M. Cary, a speculator in Detroit real estate. 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. As of 2013, the entire structure is in need of restoration. However, as of 2016, the building is owned by Rock Ventures and has seen some restoration work. 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. The building is rectangular in plan, measuring 112 feet along Gratiot and 34 feet along Broadway. 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. The original cornice of the building has been removed. The interior of the structure contains office space with no significant features. National Register Of Historic Places — Cary Building

Location

229 Gratiot Ave.
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
42.33551, -83.04689

Categories

COMMERCEARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Broadway Avenue Historic District
Listed
0 mi
Harmonie Club, The
Industrial
0.1 mi
King, L. B. and Co. Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
Remick, Jerome H., and Company, Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
Breitmeyer-Tobin Building
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Surrender of Fort Detroit
1812Early Republic
0.3 mi
Siege of Fort Detroit — American Recovery 1813
1813Early Republic
0.3 mi
Battle of Bloody Run 1763 (Detroit)
1763Colonial
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Cary Building listed on the National Register?

Cary Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1983.

What type of historic resource is Cary Building?

Cary Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Cary Building?

The period of significance for Cary Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Cary Building?

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