Founded in 1883, the State Savings Bank of Michigan quickly expanded and by 1898 was the largest bank in Detroit. In that year the bank purchased property at the corner of Fort and Shelby streets with the intention of building a new headquarters for their company.

The bank hired architect Stanford White, a partner in the renowned firm of McKim, Mead, and White, to design their flagship structure. White chose a white marble neo-classical design complete with a recessed portico, two twenty-eight foot tall Ionic columns framing the main entrance, and a large cartouche representing the Michigan Coat of Arms positioned along the roofline. The interior of the bank maintained the neo-classical motif and included arched colonnades, ionic pilasters.

The building officially opened in 1900 but by 1914 the company needed more space. Local architectural firm, Donaldson and Meier was hired to expand the existing structure, choosing to blend this new portion into the original design to a point that it is nearly indistinguishable as an addition. A large mural by American artist Thomas Wilmer Dewing was also added to the interior of the building during the 1914 expansion. The piece is an allegorical interpretation titled Commerce and Agriculture Bringing Wealth to Detroit.

Following another merger in 1927, the building became the home to the Peoples Wayne County Bank, but the institution did not survive the economic turmoil of the Great Depression. The structure was consistently occupied by banks until the 1980s, including Edsel Ford’s Manufacturer’s National Bank for a short time.

In 2013, the owners of the building indicated a desire to demolish the structure to make way for surface parking. Local businessman Dan Gilbert purchased the property, sparing it from the wrecking ball, but has yet decide on what may be housed in the iconic building in the future. 

Credits and Sources:

Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture, 1845-2005. Wayne State University Press.

Pinho, Kirk (13 December 2014). "Gilbert buys State Savings Bank building; Detroit Car Museum a possibility". Crain's Detroit Business.