The Palms is an apartment building located at 1001 East Jefferson Avenue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. It was one of the first buildings in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to use reinforced concrete as one of its major construction materials. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985.

Significance

The six-story apartment building was initially built as a high-class residence between 1901 and 1903 at a cost of about $80,000.Palms Apartments
from the city of Detroit However, the historical importance of this building lies in its construction. The building was designed by the architectural firm of George D. Mason and

Albert Kahn Associates Albert Kahn Associates is an architectural design firm in Detroit, Michigan with a second office located in Miami, Florida. It was established in 1895 and is still active. Recent work includes being awarded third place in thVirtual Modeling Sta ...

, who used reinforced concrete as one of the major construction materials—one of the first buildings in the nation constructed in such fashion. The technique of using reinforced concrete was not fully developed until

Julius Kahn Julius Kahn may refer to: *Julius Kahn (inventor) (1874–1942), engineer of reinforced concrete *Julius Kahn (congressman) Julius Kahn (February 28, 1861 – December 18, 1924) was a United States Congressman who was succeeded by his wife ...

, brother of Albert, developed the " Kahn System" of reinforcing the concrete and formed the

Trussed Concrete Steel Company The Trussed Concrete Steel Company was founded in 1903 by Julius Kahn, an engineer and inventor. Its headquarters were in Detroit, Michigan, and its steel factory was in Youngstown, Ohio. The long company name changed to a shortened versi ...

in Detroit to produce the steel bar that was developed for this system. In 1905, Building No. 10 of the

Packard Plant The Packard Automotive Plant is a former automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan, where luxury cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In 2022, it was scheduled for demoliti ...

was built using the new Kahn System.

Description

The Palms and Book families were the investors in the construction of this building; it was named after

Francis Palms Francis Palms (1809–1886) was the largest landholder in Michigan during the mid-1850s. He had major business interests as well and was given the nickname "Croesus" because of his wealth. Life and career He was born in Antwerp, Belgium December ...

, who lived in the nearby Croul-Palms House. The building is constructed in a "U" shape, with an exterior of solid masonry faced in limestone. The façade is symmetrical, with octagonal towers at the corners. The original floor plans called for apartments that occupied an entire wing of the building, consisting of a double parlor in the front and a dining room with fireplace to the back separated by bedrooms, libraries, baths and more. However, in the 1930s the building was divided into smaller apartments. Much of the original details still exist on the interior and exterior. The building was listed on the State Register in 1979, the National Register in 1985, and received Local Historic District designation in 1980.

Sources

*"Palms Apartments," City of Detroit Planning and Development Department, 1980

References

{{East Jefferson Avenue Residential TR Apartment buildings in Detroit National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Residential buildings completed in 1903 Renaissance Revival architecture in Michigan