Michigan Central Station

On December 26, 1913, the Michigan Central Railroad Station (now known as the Penn Central) was hastily opened eight days ahead of schedule as flames destroyed the old depot at Third and Jefferson. The total cost of construction was over $2,500,000. The building was acclaimed as one of the most distinctively metropolitan features of Detroit, and "one of the finest structures of its kind in the world ... a passenger terminal than which there is nothing more complete anywhere." (Detroit Tribune, November 2, 1913.) It was the world's highest. In 1974, with the destruction of the Union Depot, it has become the last remaining train terminal in Detroit.

In its heyday it boasted private baths and dressing rooms where a woman could "brush up a bit before starting for Downtown." There were public washrooms, and there were private washrooms with attendants where "for mere pennies ablutions may be performed with the knowledge that it is not necessary to mix with the rank and file." (Detroit Tribune, November 2, 1913.) Other facilities included a parlor, lunch counter, barber shop, drug store, newsstand and waiting rooms. The station was advertised as incomparable for convenience and comfort, elaborate yet utilitarian.

Michigan Central Depot has been pictured on numerous postcards and in virtually every important book on Detroit; among them M. M. Quaife's 'This Is Detroit (p. 179) where the photo shows the throng assembled to welcome Archbishop Mooney on August 3, 1937; Clarence Monroe Burton's 'The City of Detroit Michigan; 1701-1922 (p. 688); and W. Hawkins Ferry's 'The Buildings of Detroit (photo no. 264).

Michigan Central Railroad Station represents Detroit's connection with the outside world. It was the point of arrival for thousands of immigrants. It was the point of departure for thousands of troops during both world wars. It stood greeting hundreds of important visitors to Detroit. Consider this example from the Detroit News of October 10, 1932: "It was at the Michigan Central Station just before noon that Detroit caught its first glimpse in several years of the man it was to hear described many times as 'the next president of the United States,' Franklin D. Roosevelt ... A few hundred people negotiated their way past the police barrier and had made their way onto the tracks as the mayor and other dignitaries greeted him on the 'Roosevelt Special' and the trip Downtown began."

The station was designed by the famous architects Warren and Wetmore in collaboration with Reed and Stem. Warren and Wetmore have a number of accomplishments to their credit, among them the vast vaulted concourse for New York's Grand Central Station. The Roman magnificence of the Michigan Central waiting rooms--with its columns, arches, and gables--contrasts sharply with the sixteen story connecting office building directly behind it. According to Carroll L. V. Meeks in The Railroad Station this is a very early example of functional expression in a railroad station.

It is because of Detroit's role as the transportation capital of the world that the Michigan Central Station is so significant. It has served the city through a long and varied period.

The Michigan Central Railroad Station is basically neo-classic in design. Built of limestone with a steel framework, it is in two main sections; a two-story entrance hall and a 16 story office building to the rear.

The front section is the more elaborate in architectural details. Three large round-arched windows with a pair of Doric columns on either side, topped with scrollwork, give the building its Roman air. In addition to the columns on the facade, two pilasters adorn each end of the massive front section. Three elaborate pedimented gables above each window form the roof line, with one more on the sides of the front section. Each gable contains a cartouche and scrollwork. A wide frieze with guttae and an architrave is found between the columns and decorative cornice. Above the four, one-story, narrow arched windows between the columns are stone carvings of vases and fruit with another line of scrollwork. Each of the seven front arches is topped with a huge scrolllike bracket, and the windows in each are numerous small steel-framed panes. The three largest arched windows are decorated with metal filigree and circular carvings.

A lower portion of the structure connects the front to the sixteen story rear portion. This lower section contains numerous round-arched paned windows, and a flat roof with balusters. The rear section windows on the second story are topped by pediments supported by consoles. The next eleven stories rise relatively unadorned until the fourteenth story where a belt course is found supported by numerous consoles. Balusters are at each window surrounding the fifteenth story. An overhanging cornice with numerous consoles is found at the roof. The rear section is connected with the front section. A belt course is found between the second and third stories.

As for the interior, it equals the exterior in every way. The front corridor leads to the grand concourse with its heavy marble columns, great windows and domed ceiling five stories above. Its beauty and magnitude are on a vast and elaborate scale. The waiting room is ninety-seven feet wide by two hundred and thirty feet long. There is marble, plaster carving, metal decoration, glass and tile everywhere. The station overlooks Roosevelt Park with a cement wall separating the park and the structure. Cast iron lamps stand in the front of the station. The building is in good condition although the main entrance is closed. The main entrance and concourse were partitioned in about 1968. The depot now services Amtrak.