Skip to content
Rebuild Detroit

Popular in Metro Detroit

Call (888) 471-3135

Lost building, Detroit, 1924 to 1994

Polk Directory Building

Demolished in 1994

A drawing of Polk Directory Building from its recorded size and style. No photo we may share has turned up yet.
Opened
1924
Torn down
1994

Designed by Richard H. Marr

The Polk Directory Building stood in Detroit from 1924 until 1994. 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

Rick Finley Federal Building

Government

Detroit's Polk Directory Building, designed by Richard H. Marr, stood on this spot for 70 years. Today the Rick Finley Federal Building stands in its place.

Walk the block on the map
  1. 1924 Opens Polk Directory Building
  2. 1990 Closes Polk Directory Building
  3. 1994 Comes down Polk Directory Building
  4. 2026 Today Rick Finley Federal Building

What is there now

Rick Finley Federal Building

  • Today Government Source: OpenStreetMap
  • Polk Directory Building came down Source: Historic Detroit
  • Newer building on the lot The parcel's building dates to 1994 Source: County parcel records

Building permits at this address

5 permits since October 2024

$11,600 in declared work (1 of 5 name a figure) Newest: Plumbing permit, July 15, 2025

  1. Plumbing permit

    Original permit plm2024-04894 i am adding a oil interceptor 2 sump pumps for elevator pit and 100 feet of... Read all

    Original permit plm2024-04894 i am adding a oil interceptor 2 sump pumps for elevator pit and 100 feet of piping. I have

  2. Alteration permit

    Alterations to existing Fire Alarm System to Code per plans. Subject to Field Approval.

    $11,600

  3. Elevator permit

    City # 10707 controllers, power units, door operators & equipment, guide shoes to equipment #45059947

  4. Elevator permit

    City # 10706 controllers, power units, door operators & equipment, guide shoes to equipment #45059947

  5. Fire alarm permit

    ELEC FA needed for elec. upgrades

Source: City and county building permits

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 1924, during the boom years when the auto industry turned Detroit into one of the fastest growing cities in America, the Polk Directory Building went up.

Richard H. Marr drew the plans.

It is gone now, demolished in 1994, and the map pin below marks where it stood.

Timeline

  1. 1924 Built Designed by Richard H. Marr
  2. 1990 Closed
  3. 1994 Demolished
  4. 2024 3 building permits The latest November 21
  5. 2025 2 building permits $11,600 in declared work, the latest July 15
  6. 2026 Today New construction on the lot

Where it is

431 Howard St.

On this map

  1. Polk Directory Building This place
  2. Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building 300 ft
  3. Comerica Bank Center 350 ft
  4. American Legion Hall 370 ft
  5. Masonic Temple (old) 370 ft
  6. Gabriel Richard Building 440 ft
  7. Weil and Company--Gabriel Richard Building 440 ft
  8. Board of Commerce Building 470 ft
  9. Summerfield & Hecht 510 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Architect

Richard H. Marr

Architect, 1886 to 1946. Designed the Charles Burton House (1915) and 13 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Richard H. Marr

More from Detroit in the 1920s

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.