Detroit, Michigan
Detroit in Michigan, USA during cold winter snow storm, old Packard Plant
The Spirit of Detroit
The Ford Central Train Station during foggy conditions
Detroit
Morning walk
Detroit, MI
Historic Fort Wayne
Monument to Joe Louis “The Fist”
Detroit school
Porsche Classic near the old Packard Plant
Hamtramck Streets and Back Alleys
Highland Park
Detroit High School - Elevator shaft
McArthur Bridge to Belle Isle
Delray viaduct
Grand River Ave, Detroit, MI 48204
just sitting there temporarely
Years before the automobile industry boom, Detroit was internationally known as the “Stove Capital of the World.” At one point, there were five companies employing over 5,000 Detroiters. Two brothers, Jeremiah and James Dwyer, started the whole thing back in 1860. After learning the trade in New York, they returned to Detroit and began manufacturing stoves during the day, selling them door to door in the evening. They struggled for years until partnering with an investor and becoming Detroit Stove Works. Jeremiah semi-retired due to illness soon after. He popped back up in 1871, forming the Michigan Stove Company. Brother James, to stir sibling rivalry a bit more, left Detroit Stove and founded another competitor, Peninsular Stove Company, in 1884. A group of skilled tradesmen decided to go into business for themselves in 1888 and launched the Art Stove Company. They struggled with raising capital from the start. William Dwyer, the son of Jeremiah, came in with all those big stove-$$$ and took control by 1900. The company quickly grew into one of the largest manufacturers, producing the Art Laurel line. As Art expanded with additions to their factory and warehouse, land was purchased across the street for a new office building. The building, designed by George Hunt Ingraham, was finished in 1907, with ground floor offices and a second floor lecture/show room. The total cost was $40,000. Despite the growth, Art Stove began to struggle in the next decade, and was purchased by Detroit Stove Works in 1923. The office building, along with the factory and warehouse, were sold to Frank L. Bromley Properties, an industrial real estate firm, in 1925. They would maintain their offices here till at least the late 50s; renting out space to two other companies, Midwest Production Engineers and Magnaflux Corporation. Remarkably, door lettering for all three companies still remain. During the 1970s and 80s, the building was shared by two companies, Detroit Oxygen and Medical Equipment and Golden Distribution. After 1987, things get murky, though there’s mention that the building was used for private storage through the 1990s. It was sold in 2007 for $225,000. Nothing noticeable was done with it, outside of some very poor exterior graffiti. It ended up in foreclosure and sold at auction for $131,000 in 2014. The ‘investor”–Houston Holding Group–added some new boards and attempted to sell the building in 2017 for $560,000. It didn’t sell. Instead its behind on property taxes and once again in foreclosure. The factory and warehouse, across the street, were demolished to make way for the I-75 express way, leaving the Office/Showroom the last vestige of Art Stove and one of the few remaining physical memories of Detroit’s earliest industry. After Detroit Stove Works bought Art, they merged with Michigan Stove forming the Detroit-Michigan Stove Company, the “largest company of its kind” in late 1925. In 1945, they took over Battle Creeks’ A-B Stove. Profits decreased by the end of the decade, and Detroit-Michigan Stove sold their most well known brand, Garland Stoves, to Welbilt Corp. They’d finally go out of business, shuttering the plant in 1957. The Garland brand lives on making commercial cooking equipment and pizza ovens.
