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Lost building, West Side Industrial, 1926 to 2023

Detroit Harbor Terminal Building

Demolished in 2023

Depicted place: Detroit Harbor Terminals / Boblo Island Detroit Dock Building, 2018 Photo: Notorious4life (Uploads), CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1926
Torn down
2023

Designed by Albert Kahn

The Detroit Harbor Terminal Building stood in West Side Industrial from 1926 until 2023. Here is what it was, who made it and where to find the spot today.

On the map

More photos of Detroit Harbor Terminal Building

A view of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc, 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A view of the North-Northwest side of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc. Building (a.k.a. the Boblo Dock building), 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A view looking up the north side of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc, 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Demolished in 2023

We have not yet found a source that says what stands on the spot today. Last looked on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

In 1926, in the years Detroit became the Motor City and built like it meant to stay on top, the Detroit Harbor Terminal Building went up in West Side Industrial.

Albert Kahn drew the plans.

It is gone now, demolished in 2023, and the map pin below marks where it stood.

Timeline

  1. 1926 Built Designed by Albert Kahn
  2. 2003 Closed
  3. 2023 Demolished
  4. 2026 Today 3 years since it came down

Where it is

4550-4598 W. Jefferson Ave.

On this map

  1. Detroit Harbor Terminal Building This place
  2. Fort Street Congregational Church 0.4 mi
  3. Hollywood Theatre 0.5 mi
  4. Fort Clark Hotel 0.5 mi
  5. Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch 0.6 mi
  6. Labadie House 0.6 mi
  7. J.W. Westcott II 0.6 mi
  8. Yorba Hotel 0.7 mi
  9. Ambassador Bridge 0.7 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Albert Kahn
Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Albert Kahn

American architect, 1869 to 1942. Designed the General Motors Building (1922) and 114 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Albert Kahn

More from Detroit in the 1920s

Around the block

It is in West Side Industrial. See the neighborhood's homes, pros and story.

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. Depicted place: Detroit Harbor Terminals / Boblo Island Detroit Dock Building, 2018 Photo: Notorious4life (Uploads), CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. A view of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc, 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. A view of the North-Northwest side of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc. Building (a.k.a. the Boblo Dock building), 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. A view looking up the north side of the Detroit Harbor Terminals Inc, 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. The abandoned Boblo Island Boat Dock Building on the Detroit River in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A, 2010 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. The main entrance facing Jefferson Avenue West of the Detroit Harbor Terminal Inc, 2011 Photo: MJCdetroit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.