National Register of Historic Places

El Tovar Apartments

Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Listed
February 28, 1991
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
91000214

About this property

The El Tovar Apartments is an apartment building located at 320 East Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, in the East Grand Boulevard Historic District. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Often attributed to the firm of Wiedmaier & Gay, the December 6, 1928, edition of the Detroit Free Press lists Robert J. West as the architect of the building. The El Tovar Apartment building is an excellent example of Spanish Moorish/Art Deco style. The El Tovar Apartments is a 4-and-a-half-story building, containing 73 apartments, constructed from orange brick with limestone trim, orange terra cotta accents, and a Spanish tile roof. The entrance is within the center pavilion, reached by a sidewalk flanked by carved lion figures. The name El Tovar is carved on a scroll above the entrance. Minaret-like towers project from the gabled roof, and there are arched openings at the corners of the front façade, chimney stack-like projections, pseudo-flying buttresses, and stylized crenellations. Built in 1928, the apartment building represents a significant change in Detroit from low density to higher density housing. In 1988, the Messiah Housing Corporation purchased the building; they rehabilitated the apartments and opened them for Section 8 housing in 1992. Messiah Housing also owns the nearby Saint Paul Manor Apartments and Kingston Arms Apartments.

Location

210 E. Grand Blvd.
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
42.35336, -83.00546

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
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

Saint Paul Manor Apartments
Industrial
0 mi
Kingston Arms Apartments
Industrial
0.1 mi
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Parish Complex
Listed
0.2 mi
East Grand Boulevard Historic District
Listed
0.2 mi
Sibley, Frederic M., Lumber Company Office Building
Industrial
0.4 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Fort Detroit — British Naval Action
1763Colonial
0.4 mi
Pontiac's War - Battle of Bloody Run 1763
1763Colonial
1.2 mi
Pontiac's War — Battle of Bloody Run
1763Colonial
1.3 mi
Battle of Bloody Run (Detroit, 1763)
1763Colonial
1.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was El Tovar Apartments listed on the National Register?

El Tovar Apartments was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1991.

What type of historic resource is El Tovar Apartments?

El Tovar Apartments is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for El Tovar Apartments?

The period of significance for El Tovar Apartments is recorded as the industrial era.

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