Cadillac Building - August 1920
Detroit, MI
Photo and info courtesy Richard Weiss

The photo here at the right was found off an old negative and was simply titled "Cadillac Service Building, August 7, 1920". If you look in the background you can see the steel structure of the General Motors Building under construction. A closer look at the photograph shows that the first floor and indeed the entire structure is not occupied so this was probably taken about the time the building was completed.

Years later, I was going southbound on Woodward Ave when looking over my right shoulder, there it was.. the same building as in the photo looking exactly as it did decades earlier! I had to take a look. The building is now part of Wayne State University and is on Cass near the corner of Burroughs (yes the Burroughs adding machine company was located in this vicinity too).

Cadillac Building July 2008
Photos and info courtesy Richard Weiss

Here are some pictures of the same building as it looked a year ago. Was the building used for servicing a car, did they warehouse replacement parts here or did they simply track service issues? A warehouse seems unlikely as there are no large doors to be found and in those early days with the advances in automobile engineering, chances are there would be far to many parts to catalog. The display windows on the first floor are also puzzling. Did they display new cars here or was this store front space used for retailers? These windows are covered over now. Either way the front doors lead upstairs to the actual lobby. In the recent picture you can also see the General Motors Building in the background, although the former Chevrolet laboratory has been built between them in the years since. The only change over the years seems to be the crown above the Cadillac crest is missing. Not sure, but this building has the style of Albert Kahn written all over it. 02-10

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