Cass Park Historic District

The area surrounding Cass Park was originally laid out as part of a French ribbon farm extending from the Detroit River. Lewis Cass, the park's namesake, purchased the farm in 1816 when he moved to the area. He constructed a house on Larned Street between First and Second Avenues, and in 1840 a larger house on the northwest corner of Fort and Cass Streets. Starting in 1836, Cass began subdividing his land, platting lots between Larned and the river. Over the next 30 years, Cass platted more northerly sections of his claim. The area that now encompasses the Cass Park Historic District began to be sold as lots after 1859. In 1860, Cass deeded a section of land to the city of Detroit, bounded by Second, Ledyard, Cass and Bagg (now Temple), to be used as a public park.[2]

In 1863, the Detroit City Railway Company began streetcar service Along Woodward Avenue, only a few blocks away from Cass Park. The streetcar service spurred development northward along Woodward, including the Cass Park area. The area soon became a fashionable suburb of the city. In 1875, the city landscaped Cass Park, planting a number of new trees. By the 1880s, some of Detroit's most prominent citizens lived along the park, including James Vernor, E. W. Voigt, and John H. Avery. Avery's house at 457 Ledyard is the only residence remaining from this period within the district.[2]

The Cass Park area continued to be a fashionable address into the 1900s. However, the 1890s saw the introduction of upscale apartment buildings. In 1895, the Alhambra Flats at 100–112 Temple was constructed, followed in 1905 by the Cromwell Flats at 2942 Second, and in 1908 by the Ansonia Flats at 2909 Second. As Detrtoit continued developing, apartment buildings with smaller but more numerous units began to appear, including the Manhattan Apartments at 2966 Second in 1905, and the Altadena Apartments at 2952 Second in 1911. This marked a transformation of the Cass Park area, as the single family homes surrounding the park were replaced with apartment buildings to house the city's expanding population. By 1925, a number of new apartment buildings had been constructed.[2]

In addition, by the early 1920s, the business development of the city center reached into the Cass Park area, with businesses constructing their headquarters near the park. The first one of these was the Standard Accident Insurance Company, who built their headquarters at 640 Temple in 1921. Also by 1920, the city's Freemasonry had purchased a plot of land on what is now Temple Avenue to construct a new building, replacing the lodge on Lafayette which the organizations had outgrown. Construction on the Detroit Masonic Temple, the largest building in the district, began in 1920 and was completed in 1926. The Knights of Pythias followed suit, building a headquarters adjacent to the Masonic Temple in 1926. In 1927, the S. S. Kresge Corporation built its World Headquarters along the park.[2]

Smaller businesses located along the more heavily traveled Cass Avenue near the Park. A number of structures were constructed in this area, including a commercial buildinghousing the Lasky Corporation at 146–166 Temple in 1923, the Will Mar Garage at 131 Temple in 1924, and a film exchange building at 479 Ledyard in 1936. During World War II the city's exploding population caused apartment owners in the area to subdivide their units to house the influx of workers.[2]

After the war, the Cass Park area declined economically, with the apartment buildings being further divided into substandard units. Many buildings fell into disrepair or were abandoned. During the 1950s-1970s the Cass Park area became one of the most economically depressed neighborhoods of the city, and a number of charitable organizations moved into the area. In 1955, the Episcopal Diocese of Detroit constructed the Mariners Inn at 445 Ledyard as a shelter and treatment center for alcoholic sailors. The construction of Interstate 75 in Michigan, cutting off the park from downtown, hastened the decline of the neighborhood. Businesses moved into the suburbs, and the buildings left behind were taken over by nonprofit organizations, abandoned, or razed.[2]

Cass Tech from across Cass Park

The Cass Park Historic District includes Cass Park, a formal square with angled paths and scattered statues,[4] as well as various commercial headquarters buildings, apartment buildings, the monumental Detroit Masonic Temple and other structures surrounding the park.[5] Cass Park is a landscaped green space, containing abundant trees, park benches and modern, multi-color playground equipment. A fountain was once in the center of the park. A statue of Robert Burns, sculpted by George Anderson Lawson in 1921, is located at the north side of the park, facing the Masonic Temple. The new Cass Technical High School is located just to the south of the park, and various other buildings, all of which are contained within this historic district, surround and frame the park space.[2]

The national designation includes 25 buildings, two of which are demolished (the Adams Apartments and Williams Apartments) and two of which are classified as non-contributing to the district (Park Plaza and the Cass Park Baptist Center). The city of Detroit designation includes 19 of the 25 buildings included in the national designation, excepting the four demolished and non-contributing structures, as well as the Mariners Inn and the Will Mar Garage. Two of the buildings in the district (the S.S. Kresge Company Headquarters and the Detroit Masonic Temple) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The buildings in the district include:[2]

West of Cass Park

S. S. Kresge World Headquarters

• S.S. Kresge Company / Metropolitan Center for High Technology, 2727 Second: This is a ​5 ¹⁄₂-story, brick and limestone Art Deco office building designed by Albert Kahn and built in 1928–30. Kresge used these offices until the firm moved to suburban Troy in 1972.[6] For some years after that, the building was used by the Detroit Institute of Technology. The broad facade fronts on the entire western side of Cass Park. The symmetric building has a projecting ​5 ¹⁄₂-story central section flanked by four-story wings with projecting ends.

North of Cass Park

Detroit Masonic Temple

• Fort Wayne Hotel / American Hotel, 400–426 Temple : This 11-story, brown-brick and terra cotta building was designed by Ellington and Weston and constructed in 1926 as a lodge headquarters and hotel for the Knights of Pythias. The first and second floors are finished in smooth ashlar and a decorative string of red and blue terra cotta tiles separate the ninth and tenth stories. The upper two stories have decorative stone surrounds.
• William Apartments / Temple Towers, 439 Temple: This ​6 ¹⁄₂-story, U-shaped, brown brick and masonry apartment building was designed by Joseph P. Jogerst, and constructed in 1915. It originally held 60 units. The basement level was concrete block, the first floor was faced with smooth ashlar, and the upper floors had two three-sided window. bays. The William Apartments has been demolished, and is not included in the city historic district designation.
• Detroit Masonic Temple, 500 Temple: This English Gothic building was designed by George D. Mason, and construction began in 1922. It is the largest Masonic Temple in the world, extremely ornate and structurally complex. The Temple consists of three separate buildings, unified by their exterior details: the fourteen-story Ritualistic Building, the ten-story Shrine Club, and the seven-story Auditorium Building connecting the other two. All three buildings are sheathed in Indiana limestone sculptural details by Corrado Parducci.
• Standard Accident Insurance Building / Wayne County Department of Social Services, 640 Temple: This eight-story, seven-bay, Classical Revival brick and stone office building was designed by Albert Kahn and constructed in 1920. The first and second floors have sets of three double hung windows separated by stone pilasters. The upper floors have sets of two 1/1 double hung windows.
• Ansonia Flats / Ansonia Apartments, 2901–23 Second: This ​4 ¹⁄₂-story yellow brick apartment building was constructed in 1908, and originally held 20 luxury units. It is divided into three separate sections with three separate entrances. Two entrances are on Second and the third is on Temple. The Georgian Revival facade contains multiple bays, giving it an undulating form. The Temple facade has three bow front bays with a semi-octagonal corner bay. The Second facade has three round bays and one square bay.
• Boulevard Hotel, 2931–33 Second: This ​3 ¹⁄₂-story, brown brick apartment building, was constructed in 1924, and originally had 36 units. The Craftsman-style structure is five bays wide, with a central entrance bay flanked by two projecting bays topped by Flemish gables.
• Cromwell Flats / Cromwell Apartments, 2942 Second: This ​3 ¹⁄₂-story brown brick apartment building was designed by Almon C. Varney and constructed in 1904. The building is three bays wide, with a central entrance bay flanked by three-sided window bays containing alternating bands of brick and stone. The Cromwell is one of three buildings, along with the Altadena Apartments and Manhattan Apartments, that located together and constructed with closely matching setback and design.
• Altadena Apartments, 2952–58 Second: This ​4 ¹⁄₂-story, brown brick apartment building was designed by Pollmar & Ropes and constructed in 1911. It originally contained 12 units. It has two entrances, and two three-sided window bays running from the second to the fourth floor on each end of the building.
• Manhattan Apartments, 2966–72 Second: This ​4 ¹⁄₂-story, brown brick apartment building was designed by Pollmar & Ropes and constructed in 1905. It has a center entrance bay flanked by two three-sided window bays running from the second to the fourth floor. Design details include metal spandrels painted green within the window bays, a cornice with quatrefoil inset details, and a battlemented parapet.
• Wilburne Apartments, 487 Charlotte: This ​3 ¹⁄₂-story, three-bay, yellow brick apartment building contains 32 units, and is now known as the Vernon Murphy Apartments. It was constructed in 1916 in a Renaissance Revival and Arts and Crafts style, with a recessed, arched entrance, and a wide hipped roof supported by brackets and rafter tails.

• Cass Corridor
• Cass-Davenport Historic District