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Lost hotel, Detroit, 1917 to 1949

Lincoln Hotel

Demolished in 1949

A drawing of Lincoln Hotel from its recorded size and style. No photo we may share has turned up yet.
Opened
1917
Torn down
1949

Designed by Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby

The Lincoln Hotel stood in Detroit from 1917 until 1949. Here is what it was, who made it and where to find the spot today.

On the map

Then and now

What stands there now

Today

The spot today, from the street Photo: Street View, 2026

A parking garage

6 stories, Mapped as Detroit Opera House Parking Center

Detroit's Lincoln Hotel, designed by Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby, stood on this spot for 32 years. It came down 77 years ago. Today the spot is a parking garage, mapped as Detroit Opera House Parking Center.

Walk the block on the map
  1. 1917 Opens Lincoln Hotel
  2. 1949 Comes down Lincoln Hotel
  3. 2026 Today Parking garage
How we know what stands there
  • OpenStreetMap Detroit Opera House Parking Center, parking garage at the map point

Checked October 25, 2026. We never guess: a site no source speaks for shows no answer.

What is there now

A parking garage

  • Today 6 stories, Mapped as Detroit Opera House Parking Center Source: OpenStreetMap
  • Lincoln Hotel came down Source: Historic Detroit
See then and now

We checked Wikidata, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Rebuild Detroit's landmark records and the county parcel records on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

In 1917, in the years Detroit became the Motor City and built like it meant to stay on top, the Lincoln Hotel went up.

The design came from Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby.

It is gone now, demolished in 1949, and the map pin below marks where it stood.

Timeline

  1. 1917 Built Designed by Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby
  2. 1949 Closed
  3. 1949 Demolished
  4. 2026 Today 77 years since it came down

Where it is

1505 Centre St.

On this map

  1. Lincoln Hotel This place
  2. Hemmeter Building 110 ft
  3. Merchants Building 120 ft
  4. The Ashley 160 ft
  5. Harmonie Club 180 ft
  6. The Belle 290 ft
  7. Edelweiss Cafe 300 ft
  8. Broadway Market 310 ft
  9. Madison-Lenox Hotel 320 ft

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

National Theatre, by Ernest Wilby National Theatre, by Ernest Wilby. Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Ernest Wilby

Architect, 1869 to 1957. Designed the National Theatre (1911) and 3 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Ernest Wilby

More from Detroit in the 1910s

Around the block

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.