Old City Hall

For nearly a century this site on Campus Martius was the seat of Detroit’s city government. City Hall was designed in 1860 by the firm of A. N. Jordan and James Anderson, but the Civil War forced postponement of construction until 1868. Impressive ceremonies marked the dedication of the building on the Fourth of July, 1871. An imposing structure with a mansard roof, City Hall was built of cream-colored Amherst sandstone, and the clock in the two-hundred-foot tower was said to be the largest in the nation. Statues of Cadillac, La Salle, Marquette, and Richard were designed for the building by Julius Melchers to recall the city’s French heritage. After a bitter public debate, City Hall was razed in 1961.