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Building, Detroit, since 1900

State Savings Bank

Still standing, photographed 2022

[State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
Opened
1900
Style
Beaux Arts
Standing
126 years

Designed by Donaldson & Meier and McKim, Mead & White

State Savings Bank has stood on W. Fort St. in Detroit since 1900, 126 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of State Savings Bank

[State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
[State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
Statue with shield on top of Savoyard Centre, Downtown Detroit Michigan, 2021 Photo: JakeSmallz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Under renovation

  • Add Addition Use permit Add Additional Occupancy/Use (Cabaret Group "A") to an existing Rental Hall as per plans. Subject to Field Approval., estimated at $1,000 Source: City and county building permits
  • Standing and open Source: Historic Detroit

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

State Savings Bank opened in 1900, in the years Detroit became the Motor City and built like it meant to stay on top.

Credit the design to Donaldson & Meier and McKim, Mead & White, working in Beaux Arts.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1982.

It is still open, and still part of daily life in the city.

Next time you are nearby, stop at 151 W. Fort St and look up.

Timeline

  1. 1900 Built Designed by Donaldson & Meier and McKim, Mead & White
  2. 1982 Listed on the National Register March 19, 1982
  3. 2026 Add Addition Use permit September 23, 2026
  4. 2026 Today Under renovation

Where it is

151 W. Fort St.

On this map

  1. State Savings Bank This place
  2. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Building 130 ft
  3. Detroit Financial District 180 ft
  4. U.S. Mortgage Bond Building 190 ft
  5. Detroit Trust Co. Building 200 ft
  6. 211 West Fort Street 210 ft
  7. Penobscot Building (first) 220 ft
  8. Penobscot Building Annex 220 ft
  9. Murphy-Telegraph Building 250 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Donaldson & Meier
Photo: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Donaldson & Meier

American architectural firm, founded 1882. Designed the Penobscot Building (1928) and 58 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Donaldson & Meier

Architect

McKim, Mead & White

American architectural firm. Designed State Savings Bank (1900)

More from Detroit in the 1900s

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. [State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  2. [State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  3. [State Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  4. Statue with shield on top of Savoyard Centre, Downtown Detroit Michigan, 2021 Photo: JakeSmallz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. The Peoples State Bank, Detroit, Michigan, 1898 Photo: Scan by NYPL, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. State Savings Bank (Savoyard Centre), Downtown Detroit, Michigan Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  7. Savoyard Centre in Detroit, 2022 Photo: JJonahJackalope, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  8. People's State Bank, Detroit, c. 1920, 1922 Photo: Clarence M. Burton, 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.