L. B. King and Company Building

The L. B. King and Company Building is a commercial building located at 1274 Library Street in Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as the Annis Furs Building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1987.[1][2]

L. B. King and Co. Building
Location1274 Library Street
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates42°20′5″N 83°2′51″W
Built1911
ArchitectRogers and MacFarlane; Walter MacFarlane
Architectural styleChicago School, Renaissance Revival
NRHP reference No.87000927[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 12, 1987
Designated MSHSJanuary 22, 1987[2]

History

L. B. King was born in Detroit in 1851, was educated in the city, and earned a BS degree from the University of Michigan in 1874.[3] After graduation, King joined his father's crockery and glassware firm, which had been founded in 1849. He rose through the ranks to become president of the company in 1907, by which time the company was specializing as a china wholesaler.[3][4]

In 1910, King engaged architects Rogers and MacFarlane to design this building as their offices;[2] the structure was completed in 1911.[4][5] The firm maintained its headquarters in the building from 1911 to 1932. In 1932, Annis Furs, a wholesale and retail furrier established by Newton Annis in 1887, moved into the building.[3] They used the building until 1983, nearly the last example of the fur industry that helped found Detroit nearly 300 years earlier.[5] In 1988, the building was refurbished by Frank Z. Martin.[5]

Both L. B. King and Company and Annis Furs were prominent commercial firms in the history of Detroit.[2] The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the state of Michigan historic register in 1987.[2]

Description

The L. B. King and Company Building is a six-story commercial building with a steel frame with white terra cotta cladding on the facade.[2] The facade of the lower two stories are virtually all glass; the upper four stories are divided into four vertical sections, each with Chicago-style windows.[5] Atop the building is an elaborate Italian Renaissance cornice which was added in 1926.[4][5] The building exemplifies the Commercial style of architecture that was extensively used in the early twentieth century.[4]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. King, L. B., and Company Building Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine from the state of Michigan
  3. L. B. King Building/Annis Furs Building from Detroit1701.org
  4. Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture, 1845-2005. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6. P. 26.
  5. Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. P. 46.
  • Elbert Hubbard, A Little Journey to L. B. King & Company's: Being an Appreciation, The Roycrofters, 1913 (26 pages)
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