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Building, Huntington Woods/Royal Oak, since 1928

Detroit Zoological Park

Still standing, photographed 2025

Aerial view of Detroit Zoo, 2025 Photo: WMrapids, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1928
Standing
98 years

Designed by Arthur Asahel Shurcliff

Detroit Zoological Park has stood on W. Ten Mile Rd. in Huntington Woods/Royal Oak since 1928, 98 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of Detroit Zoological Park

Thomas (Fred) Roberts's Dahlia Garden to the west of Rackham Memorial Fountain,1963, 2022 Photo: HaleyRoberts1980, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Giraffes at Detroit Zoo, 2017 Photo: Detroitzoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Polar Bear Swimming at Detroit Zoo, 2017 Photo: Detroitzoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 24, 2026. Nothing new at this address in the last two years.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

In 1928, as the auto boom spread out from Detroit and the suburbs began to fill in, Detroit Zoological Park opened in Huntington Woods/Royal Oak.

The design came from Arthur Asahel Shurcliff.

It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Go see it at 8450 W. Ten Mile Rd. Photos never get the scale right.

The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the U.S. state of Michigan. Spanning 125 acres (50.6 ha), it is home to more than 2,000 animals and more than 200 different species. The zoo was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded as an international leader in animal welfare, conservation and sustainability by the Detroit Zoological Society.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1928 Built Designed by Arthur Asahel Shurcliff
  2. 1990 Listed on the National Register August 24, 1990
  3. 2026 Today 98 years and still standing

Where it is

8450 W. Ten Mile Rd., Huntington Woods/Royal Oak

On this map

  1. Detroit Zoological Park This place
  2. Pleasant Ridge Historic District (Boundary Increase) 0.5 mi
  3. Pleasant Ridge Historic District 0.8 mi
  4. B and C Grocery Building 0.9 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Arthur Asahel Shurcliff
Photo: https://www.nps.gov/people/arthur-asahel-shurcliff.htm, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Arthur Asahel Shurcliff

American landscape architect. Designed Detroit Zoological Park (1928)

More from Huntington Woods/Royal Oak in the 1920s

Around the block

Photo credits

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

  1. Aerial view of Detroit Zoo, 2025 Photo: WMrapids, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Thomas (Fred) Roberts's Dahlia Garden to the west of Rackham Memorial Fountain,1963, 2022 Photo: HaleyRoberts1980, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Giraffes at Detroit Zoo, 2017 Photo: Detroitzoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Polar Bear Swimming at Detroit Zoo, 2017 Photo: Detroitzoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Title: Children's pet zoo exhibit, Zoological Park, Detroit, Mich, 1930 Photo: Tichnor Brothers, Publisher, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. child viewing penguin at Detroit Zoo, 2017 Photo: Detroitzoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.