The Detroit Club is a private social club located in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The building was constructed in 1891 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2005.

History

The origin of the Detroit Club dates to 1882, when Detroit attorney Samuel Townsend Douglas and banker/broker James Valentine Campbell, Jr. decided to found a club where local businessmen could meet and mingle."Tradition"
from The Detroit Club With an original membership of 10, they rented a house on Lafayette between Wayne and Cass,"Where Detroit's elite met to eat,"
''The Detroit News,'' August 9, 1996. and hired a chef. They soon convinced 100 more of Detroit's citizens to join. Early members included Russell A. Alger, ex-governor of Michigan, Hugh McMillan, founder of the Michigan Telephone Company, and real estate magnate James B. Book. Within a year, the club had outgrown its first home and moved to larger quarters on Fort Street. Less than a decade later, the club hired architect

Wilson Eyre Wilson Eyre Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in t ...

to design a new building to serve as their meeting place.

Architecture

The Detroit Club is a four-story brick and stone

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

building. The front door is hidden within an unusual recessed archway with stairs.Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, and the American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter
''AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture,'' Wayne State University Press, 2002, , p.84 The club features a grill and library on the first floor, a family room on the second floor, and a main dining room with smaller meeting rooms on the third floor.
from the Detroit Club The interior features fine woodwork, a wide main stair, and an enormous fireplace in the main dining hall. The original woodwork was lighter than the current version.

Events

A number of pivotal events in the twentieth century took place within the walls of the Detroit Club. In 1902, the Automobile Club of Detroit was organized at a meeting in the club. In 1922, Michigan governor Alex Groesbeck held strategy sessions to decide whom to tap to fill the open Senate seat which resulted from Truman Newberry's resignation. Groesbeck chose

James Couzens James Joseph Couzens (August 26, 1872October 22, 1936) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. He served as mayor of Detroit (1919–1922) and U.S. Senator from Michigan (1922–1936). Prior to entering politics he served as ...

. In 1930, Governor Fred W. Green met with Detroit bank presidents to work out details for closing the city's banks. In 1944–45, after an extensive series of meetings at the club,

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), commonly known as Hank the Deuce, was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford. He served as president ...

wrested control of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

from

Harry Bennett Harry Herbert Bennett (January 17, 1892 – January 4, 1979), was a boxer, naval sailor, and businessman. From the 1920s through 1945, he worked for Ford Motor Company and was best known as the head of Ford's "service department", the company's ...

. Later,

Lee Iacocca Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then reviv ...

used the club to launch his campaign to restore the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

and develop

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

into a museum. Dignitaries entertained at the Club include

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, Prince William of Sweden, Empress Zita of Austria, the

Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his Abdication of Edward VIII, abdication on 11 December 1936. The Duchy, dukedom takes its name from ...

Margaret Truman Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (February 17, 1924 – January 29, 2008) was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry S. Truman a ...

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

, Admiral Richard Byrd,

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

and Edward G. Robinson.

References

External links

The Detroit Club (official website)

Facebook

Go inside the Detroit Club, citys oldest most historic club reopens to public after renovations
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Clubs and societies in Michigan Buildings and structures in Detroit Buildings and structures completed in 1891 National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Organizations based in Detroit Gentlemen's clubs in the United States Organizations established in 1882 1882 establishments in Michigan

History

Architecture

Events

See also

References

External links