Palms Apartments facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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The Palms
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The Palms Apartments, December 2020
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| Location | 1001 East Jefferson Avenue Detroit, Michigan |
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| Built | 1903 |
| Architect | George D. Mason & Albert Kahn |
| Architectural style | English Renaissance |
| MPS | East Jefferson Avenue Residential TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 85002942 |
| Added to NRHP | October 09, 1985 |
The Palms is an apartment building located at 1001 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is famous for being one of the first buildings in the United States to use a special building material called reinforced concrete. This means concrete that has strong steel bars inside it to make it even stronger. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 because of its important history.
Why The Palms is Special
This six-story apartment building was built a long time ago, between 1901 and 1903. It was meant to be a fancy home for wealthy people. The building cost about $80,000 to build, which was a very large amount of money back then.
The Palms building is important because of how it was built. It was designed by famous architects George D. Mason and Albert Kahn. They decided to use reinforced concrete as a main material. This was a very new idea at the time.
Albert Kahn's brother, Julius Kahn, helped make this building method even better. He created the "Kahn System" for making concrete stronger. He also started a company in Detroit called the Trussed Concrete Steel Company. This company made the special steel bars used in the Kahn System.
In 1905, another important building, Building No. 10 at the Packard Automotive Plant, was also built using this new Kahn System. This shows how important The Palms was in using new building ideas.
About The Palms Building
The Palms building got its name from the Palms and Book families. These families were the ones who invested money to build it. It was named after Francis Palms, who lived nearby in the Croul–Palms House.
The building has a "U" shape when you look at it from above. Its outside walls are made of strong stone, covered with limestone. The front of the building looks the same on both sides, which is called symmetrical. It also has cool, eight-sided towers at its corners.
When it was first built, the apartments were very big. Each apartment took up a whole wing of the building! They had large living rooms at the front and dining rooms with fireplaces at the back. There were also bedrooms, libraries, and bathrooms in between.
However, in the 1930s, the building was changed. The very large apartments were divided into smaller ones. Even with these changes, many of the original details inside and outside the building are still there today.
The Palms building has been recognized as important history. It was listed on the State Register in 1979. Then, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 1980, it also became a Local Historic District.
See also
In Spanish: Palms Apartments para niños
