Location: Detroit Harbor Terminal, Detroit, MI

This was a large terminal warehouse located in Detroit on West Jefferson between Clark and McKinstry.

Notes

The Boblo Boat company used this location as their Detroit Dock, with large signs painted on the building.

The building was designed by Albert Kahn and was made of reinforced concrete to support the weight of stored cargo coming off freighters. It was the largest warehouse on the Great Lakes when it was opened in 1926. [HDO]

Boblo boats stopped docking here in 1991.

The site has been owned by the Moroun family, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. [HDO]

Time Line

1925. Announcement was made that more than $4.5 million will be spent in construction of docks, railroad sidings, power plant and an eight-story terminal warehouse, the first of four similar units to be built by the Detroit Railway & Harbor Terminals company, construction to begin immediately on a 12-acre site valued at $3.5 million fronting on the Detroit river and West Jefferson avenue, in the heart of the industrial section.

The terminal will be operated by National Terminals corporation in conjunction with other terminals in Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and other cities.

The directors of the company will be Arthur and Lawrence Buhl (Buhl's operate the Buhl Malleable company, Buhl stamping, the Buhl building and the Buhl land company); Franz Kuhn, president of Michigan Bell ow, Mason Rumney, VP of Detroit Steel Products, Harry Covington, VP of National Bank of Commerce, and several others.

The 12 acres adjoin the Studebaker plant, and the Detroit, Copper & Brass property. The company owns its own tracks and right-of-way from the river to the main lines of the PRR, PM and Wabash railroads and the Union Belt Line road giving direct connection with the Michigan Central, New York Central and Grand Trunk lines. The Detroit United Railway (street car) line passes directly by the property. Harbor soundings show a dept of 25-30 feet so that all big lake freighters can land at the company's docks.

The new warehouse will have 10,000,000 cubic feet, providing 700,000 square feet of general warehouse space and 200,000 square feet of cold storage space. The company will provide for 50,000 square feet in a separate transfer building, 4,000 square feet of dock space and a power plant large enough to take care of the three additional units which, it is expected, will be built within the next few years. [DFP-1925-9593]

2023. The Detroit Harbor Terminal, long vacant, was torn down. [DJB]