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Lost historic district, Detroit

Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings

Demolished

16-30 Monroe Avenue (Commercial Building), Wayne County, Detroit MI, 1989 Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings stood in Detroit. 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

Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings, Monroe Ave (00 block), Detroit, Michigan. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS image (1989)
The spot where Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings stood, from the street today
1989 Today
Drag the line to see the spot in 1989 and today. 1989 Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Today Photo: Street View, 2018

A construction site

Walk the block on the map
  1. 2026 Today Construction site
How we know what stands there
  • OpenStreetMap construction site at the map point

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

More photos of Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings

The National Theatre at 118 Monroe, Detroit, Michigan. Historic district contributing property Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
101 to 102 Monroe, Detroit, Michigan. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS image (1989) Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Empty block on Monroe at Woodward, Detroit MI Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

A construction site

  • Today Source: OpenStreetMap
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

The Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings is one of the places that gives Detroit its character.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1975.

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

The Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings, also known as the Monroe Block, is a historic district located along a block-and-a-half stretch at 16-118 Monroe Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, just off Woodward Avenue at the northern end of Campus Martius. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where it is

16-118 Monroe Ave.

On this map

  1. Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings This place
  2. Empire Bar 160 ft
  3. National Theatre 160 ft
  4. Palace Theatre 160 ft
  5. Liberty Theatre 170 ft
  6. Columbia Theatre 180 ft
  7. Pochelon Building 210 ft
  8. Crowley's Department Store 260 ft
  9. Detroit Police Headquarters (old) 300 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

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. 16-30 Monroe Avenue (Commercial Building), Wayne County, Detroit MI, 1989 Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. The National Theatre at 118 Monroe, Detroit, Michigan. Historic district contributing property Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Monroe Ave (00 block), Detroit, Michigan. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS image (1989) Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. 101 to 102 Monroe, Detroit, Michigan. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS image (1989) Photo: Carla Anderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Empty block on Monroe at Woodward, Detroit MI Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. 16-30 and 32-34 Monroe, Detroit MI, 1908 Photo: Manning Brothers Commercial Photographers, public domain, 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.