Maccabees Building, Albert Kahn, 1927
National Register listed July 7, 1983

The Maccabees Building is a fourteen story tower flanked by four shorter subordinated masses reaching from the center to each corner and with space between these shorter masses and central mass on each side. This is similar to Kahn’s Free Press Building of 1923. The steel-frame construction, reinforced concrete floors, and architectural detailing were also Kahn signatures and later seen in the later Fisher Building.

The building was built by the Order of the Maccabees - a popular beneficiary society (or insurance company) - in 1927. They would continue to occupy the building until 1960 when they moved to Southfield, Michigan, and their former building was sold to the Detroit School Board. This continued to serve as the Detroit Public School headquarters until 2002 when the building was transferred to Wayne State University and underwent a transformation for use as offices.

Photo Credit: Michigan Historic Sites Online

Back to Deco Highlights.