The Majestic Building was a high-rise building located at 1001

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

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 1896 for the Mabley and Company department store chain and was the city's second

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

, following the completion of the Hammond Building.Majestic Building
''Historic Detroit''. Retrieved on December 7, 2013. It contained 14 stories and stood at in height. This building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Daniel H. Burnham & Company, and faced with

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

. The final construction cost of the building was $1,000,000. This was Detroit's tallest building, from its completion in 1896 until 1909, when it was overtaken by the Ford Building. Unfortunately, C. R. Mabley died before the building's completion and new owners used it solely as an office block. It was purportedly renamed the Majestic building to conform with the letter "M" (for Mabley) carved in numerous places in its façade. The Majestic Building was hailed as a "fireproof skyscraper" and this claim was proven in 1915 when a fire broke out on the top floor and burned for two hours. The fire never spread to other floors and never endangered the building's supporting structure. Beginning in 1907, the Majestic Building housed offices and a rooftop

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

for the

United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

for science and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

s performing

weather observations Surface weather observations are the fundamental data used for safety as well as climatology, climatological reasons to weather forecasting, forecast weather and issue Weather warning, warnings worldwide. They can be taken manually, by a weather ...

. This observation deck offered unobstructed views for up to 12 miles in any direction, and was open to the public for a dime admission. ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'' engaged "The Human Fly" Harry H. Gardiner to scale the building's exterior in 1916 as a promotional stunt. The event was scheduled for the noon lunch hour and attracted such a large crowd, that traffic and streetcars on Woodward Avenue came to a halt. The building was demolished in 1962, to make way for the First Federal Building, which was finished in 1965.

Notes

References

External links

Google Maps location of 1001 Woodward avenue, which occupies the site of the Majestic Building
*
SkyscraperPage.com's profile on Majestic Building
* List of Early Skyscrapers {{Buildings in Michigan timeline Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit Former skyscrapers Office buildings completed in 1896 Buildings and structures demolished in 1962 1896 establishments in Michigan 1962 disestablishments in Michigan