Globe Tobacco Building

Globe Tobacco Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	407 East Fort Street Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates
Built	1888
Architect	William Scott & Company
Architectural style	Other, Romanesque
NRHP Reference #	84000442
Added to NRHP	November 13, 1984

The Globe Tobacco Building is a manufacturing building located at 407 East Fort Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is the oldest tobacco manufactory extant in Detroit, and is listed by the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Globe Tobacco Building, c. 1891

The tobacco industry was a leading component of Detroit's economy during the latter half of the nineteenth century, and by the 1890s was the largest industry in the city. Globe Tobacco, which was one of the largest five manufacturers in the city, was established in 1871 by O. P. Hazard, Thomas McGraw, Hiram Walker, and William Moore. Construction began in 1888. The Globe Tobacco Company went out of business in 1925. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

At one time the company Real Times Media, owner of black newspapers in the US, had its headquarters in the Globe Tobacco Building.

Architecture

Designed by William Scott & Company, Alexander Chapoton, of one of Detroit's oldest French families, built the six-story red brick Romanesque mill-style building with load-bearing masonry walls and heavy timbered roof and floors. A ​1 ¹⁄₂-story entrance archway is located in the center bay on the south side, and is flanked by two concrete spheres. Redstone Architects designed the renovation for the building into office space in 1984.