Outdoor Adventure Center - The Globe Trading Company (Detroit, Michigan)

Canada / Ontario / Windsor / Detroit, Michigan / Atwater Street, 1801
The Globe Trading Company warehouse is a site that has a rich and complex history.

Built in 1892 at Orleans and Atwater, it was originally the Dry Dock Engine Works. An 1881 advertisment describes the company as “manufacturers of steam engines, propeller wheels and machinery of all kinds.” A young Henry Ford worked there as a machinist from 1880-1892 in the original building, before the Dry Dock Engine Works company moved into the larger building now standing at the site. Thomas Edison also served a stint as an apprentice there.

Dry Dock Engine Works was preceded by the Detroit Dry Dock Company, one of the largest shipbuilders on the Great Lakes. The engine works company, founded in 1872, had several dry docks and a yard at the site on Atwater for more than 20 years before moving into its present location. The building was later occupied by Detroit Edison Reconditioning and Appliance Shop before The Globe Trading Company, formerly located on Franklin Street, moved into the giant warehouse in the late 1950s. Globe sold a variety of products, including steel equipment, cabinets, lockers, folding chairs, benches, tubing, tool and die steels, and factory equipment and motors, among other offerings.

There’s been on-and-off talk of renovating it, though considering the list of possible renovation projects, this one is among the least likely, considering the extensive decay it has undergone.

www.michigan.gov/oac
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   42°20'0"N   83°1'38"W

Comments

  • Visited and shot photos in 04/2011. Very cool building
  • This really old building capture my attention due to the colors, afternoon light creates a magnificent set of colors coming from the stone. It was during the recently hard years of Detroit, however this building was demolished just a few months ago and a new one is being build, showing that Motor City is back, A picture for the memory.
This article was last modified 4 years ago