DETROIT – Michigan has had people living in it for roughly 13,000 years and over that time, we’ve built a lot of things.
The oldest man-made structure still standing in the state is believed to be the prehistoric burial mound at Fort Wayne. It’s estimated to be between 800-1,200 years old.
Recommended Videos
While impressive, and beautiful in a way I can’t articulate, it’s difficult to really nail down a year to celebrate the enduring tenure of such a structure.
We’ve shared a few buildings in our area that turned 100 this year -- from the world’s oldest and largest auto testing facility to dueling roadside attraction locked into an escalating tower war -- and we’re proud to bring you another: the iconic Book-Cadillac Hotel.
At the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue sits a skyscraper hotel that has been housing some of Detroit’s biggest visitors for 100 years. In October and November, you may remember dozens of police vehicles surrounding it as political hopefuls visited the state to campaign.
In the swingin' 1920s, Detroit was the place to be. The auto industry had shifted gears from selling a niche product to a national necessity. When Ford began paying its workers $5 a day (nearly $100 in today’s money), people flocked to Detroit. When Prohibition began in 1920, people flocked to Detroit and smuggling alcohol from Canada became the city’s second-largest industry. When southern states introduced more aggressive racial segregation laws, when people fled Europe before, after and during World War 1, when people worldwide sought a better life, many flocked to Detroit.
The city grew faster than any other city in North America and its population tripled between 1910 and 1930. Detroit was the place to be.
In a time when the hottest toy was a hoop you pushed with a stick, the idea of going to look at where cars are made was a great family vacation. This tourism boom caused a demand for hotels in the area and Detroit businessmen saw this as an easy way to make money.
During this period, the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel was built to compete with other opulent hotels in Detroit.
It was developed by the Book Brothers -- also responsible for the iconic Book Tower -- who purchased the Cadillac Hotel in 1918 and planned to demolish the building and build a new hotel in its place. However, plans changed due to material shortages during World War I and construction was delayed until 1923.
Opening on Dec. 8, 1924, the new building -- named the Book-Cadillac Hotel -- was not only the tallest building in Detroit, but it was the tallest hotel in the world -- a record that fellow Detroit skyscraper the Renaissance Center would later break in 1977.
The hotel was a huge success. Unfortunately, like many Detroit icons, it was hit hard by financial issues in the 1980s and closed in 1984. After two decades of legal battles, renovations began in 2006 and the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit reopened in 2008. It remains one of the top hotels in the city.
The Book Brothers’ next building was the Book Tower, which was completed in 1926. The brothers planned to construct a third Book building that would have stood 81 stories and be the tallest building in the world at the time. These plans were canceled due to the Great Depression.
Maybe they should have stopped planning things before unprecedented events.
