USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 54
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FYFE BUILDING
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NORTHWEST CORNER OF WOODWARD AND ADAMS, THE SITE OF FYFE BUILDING Shows old Bates Restaurant, taken in the '80s
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CITY OF DETROIT
slaves who were escaping to Canada.) Finally, through the personal efforts of F. H. Cozzens in greater part, the price of $118,000 asked was raised and the site purchased. Plans for the construction of the building went ahead and upon June 16, 1894 the cornerstone was laid and the structure rushed to completion. However, the subsequent history of the building is a record of misfortune. Burdened with mortgages, suffering from depreciated rental values, and in competition with the newly-erected Union Trust Building, the building finally passed into other hands through a second mortgage foreclosure. The Chamber of Commerce and the Convention Bureau continued to occupy quarters in the building until they were merged in the Board of Commerce in 1903. In 1920-21 the three lower floors of the Chamber of Commerce Building were extensively remodeled to suit the needs of the Detroit Savings Bank.
As with other local organizations, one of the chief distinctions of the Cham- ber of Commerce was its connection with a convention of international im- portance. Upon its invitation, the National Reciprocity League held its first annual meeting here December 10 and 11, 1902. This was among the last of the general activities of the Chamber of Commerce as a separate organization.
THE BOARD OF COMMERCE
Of the situation in 1903, one writer of Detroit history, stated:
"There were then in existence the Board of Trade, which had abandoned most of its former civic activities and confined its work chiefly to trading in grain, flour and seeds; the Real Estate Board, which was neither very strong nor very active; the Chamber of Commerce, an organization in financial straits and with purposes not very well defined; the Convention League, which was somewhat closely affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce; and the Mer- chants' and Manufacturers' Exchange, which was the most active and efficient of all."
In the face of these conditions some of the more progressive business men saw the advantages of consolidation of these bodies, inasmuch as a duplication of work would be avoided and a more concentrated effort realized. Conse- quently, in February, 1903, the membership committee of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Exchange was instructed to open negotiations with the other organizations with a view to a combination of interests. Through joint com- mittees a plan for a central organization was reported on March 28, 1903, and this plan was adopted by the various bodies. It provided for a civic as well as a commercial organization and a canvass was at once commenced for the proposed one hundred charter members. The project met with such general approval that before the end of June two hundred and fifty-three charter mem- bers had been obtained. The formal organization of the Board of Commerce was effected June 30, 1903, and the first meeting of the board of directors was held on the 10th of July.
After careful consideration the Board of Trade decided to retain its separate identity for trading purposes only, many of its members becoming identified with the Board of Commerce. The Real Estate Board reached the same con- clusion, though it has always maintained amicable relations with the Board of Commerce. In 1907, owing to personal differences with the secretary, the Convention League and the Wholesalers' Bureau withdrew and for a time it seemed rather dark for the new organization. Better relations were soon estab- lished, however, and though the Convention and Tourist League still main-
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CITY OF DETROIT
tains a separate organization, it is acting in hearty accord with the Board of Commerce. The Wholesalers' Association was again merged with the Board in 1911.
Meetings of the Board of Commerce were first held on the tenth floor of the Hammond Building. Permanent quarters were then secured in the State Savings Bank Building, and the project to erect a home for the organization was launched in 1912. The cornerstone was laid in February, 1913, and the structure was formally dedicated on October 7, 1913. The building is three stories in height, with basement, covers a space 103 by 130 feet on the northwest corner of Wayne Street and Lafayette Avenue, and it is believed to be the only building in the country devoted exclusively to a single commercial organization. It contains the executive offices, a lobby and reading room, a dining room with accommo- dations for 350 guests and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,200, in addition to the customary committee rooms, etc. Its cost was $260,000.
During the World war, the Board of Commerce Building was the head- quarters for the Liberty Loan drives and other activities in connection with the prosecution of the war. Since the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, the organization has been active in caring for disabled soldiers and particularly in "making Americans" of the large foreign population of Detroit. An alien information bureau is maintained for the purpose of giving information to foreigners regarding government regulations, how to become naturalized citizens, the duties of citizenship, etc.
The presidents of the Board since its organization have been as follows: M. J. Murphy, 1903; Joseph L. Hudson, 1904; Charles F. Bielman, 1905; James Inglis, 1906; Lem W. Bowen, 1907; George T. Moody, 1908; Edward A. Sum- ner, 1909; Abner E. Larned, 1910; Milton A. McRae, 1911; Edwin Denby, 1912; Homer Warren, 1913; Charles B. Warren, 1914; James Couzens, 1915 (resigned before expiration of term and Allan A. Templeton was chosen to fill vacancy); Allan A. Templeton, 1916-17; Joseph G. Crowley, 1918; Allan A. Templeton, 1919; Charles H. Campbell, 1920; John A. Russell, 1921.
The membership of the Board of Commerce numbers over fifty-five hundred, and as each member pays annual dues of $25, the income from this source alone is over $137,500. In addition to this considerable sums have been raised by subscription for special purposes. Among the things accomplished by this organization are better transportation facilities for Detroit shippers; a better system of advertising for Detroit business men; the improvement of Wayne County roads, and the introduction of more systematic methods of collecting and disposing of garbage. In fact, it might be said that the Board has been interested in every movement for the betterment of Detroit and the improve- ment of general conditions.
Some of the major activities of the Board of Commerce may be described as follows: under the department of public affairs come the activities such as aeronautics, Americanization, banking and currency, building laws and regu- lations, city conditions and ordinances, clean-up and paint-up, education, equalization, fire prevention, good roads, inland waterways, military training, national guard, national legislation, port development, public improvements, recreation, rifle, social insurance, state legislation, trademarks and patents, and zoning; under the department of business affairs come foreign trade, indus- trial activities, merchant marine, postal affairs, and transportation; under the department of organization affairs comes the management of the annual
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CITY OF DETROIT
lake cruise of members, employment, entertainment, finances, general office, house, library, and publication; and under the department of affiliated organ- izations comes the work of the Adcraft members, motion picture exchange managers, retail merchants and wholesale merchants.
Other commercial organizations of the city include the Detroit Stock Ex- change, the Detroit Transportation Association, the Retail Grocers' Association, the Retail Druggists' Association, the Lumber Dealers' Association, the Builders' and Traders' Exchange, the Credit Men's Association, the Coal Exchange and the Real Estate Board. Each of these has for its field a particular line of business, to the improvement of which its efforts are directed. All of them cooperate with the Board of Commerce in every way.
Vol. I-34
CHAPTER XXIII
DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING
EARLY MILLS-STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL GROWTH-DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE INDUSTRIES-ACCESSIONS FROM OTHER CITIES-BEGINNING OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT-CAR BUILDING-A PIONEER IN .IRON MANUFACTURE-PROD- UCTS OF THE SALT BEDS-SHIP BUILDING A STANDARD INDUSTRY-WORLD'S STOVE-MAKING CENTER-PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTORIES-PAINT AND VARNISH MANUFACTORIES-THE BURROUGHS ADDING MACHINE-THE STORY OF DETROIT'S GREATEST INDUSTRY-CADILLAC-FORD MOTOR COMPANY- PACKARD-DODGE-HUDSON-HUPMOBILE-MAXWELL-OTHER AUTOMOBILE COMPANIES-DETROIT'S WAR INDUSTRIES- LIBERTY MOTOR-GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION-AUTOMOBILE ACCESSORY AND BODY PLANTS-MISCELLANEOUS ESTABLISHMENTS.
Nature ordained that Detroit should be a great manufacturing city. Its situation on the strait connecting the upper and lower lakes, assuring easy access to the raw materials from forest, soil and mine, its location at the gateway through which east and west passenger and freight traffic would naturally go; the infusion into its population of the best blood of New England, New York and Ontario- these elements all combined to forecast for the place a secure industrial position.
One of the first needs of a new country after settlers begin to come in is a mill for grinding grain, and Cadillac met this need by setting up a water mill on the Savoyard River where it crossed what is now the Cass Farm. The toll which he first fixed for grinding wheat was one-eighth, but in 1709 the Government required him to change it to one-fourteenth. The annual income from this mill reached as high as 500 crowns. When Cadillac gave deeds of land it was usually with the stipulation that the grain raised should be ground at this mill. About 1720 a second water mill was authorized to be built by Charles Campau on May's Creek, near the crossing of Fort and Twelfth streets now. At a later date a number of windmills were established along the river. They were of circular form with broad, sloping stone foundation and upright wooden body surrounded by a conical roof, which was turned by a long sweep so as to bring the sails into position. The mill which gave name to Windmill Point, and Knaggs Mill in Springwells Township, lasted until the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Such "hand trades" as that of the blacksmith, the lock- smith, armorer and brewer were carried on under license of the commandant.
These primitive modes of manufacture sufficed for the community until after the American occupation. Even then the town was slow in coming to its heritage as a manufacturing center.
In the earlier days of the town, capital was scarce, rates of interest were high, and markets were few. It was not until after the adoption of a national state banking system as completed in 1861 and the organization of institutions
530
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777777
GENERAL MOTORS BUILDING
Fifteen stories in height, 504 feet by 322 feet, covering the entire block bounded by West Grand Boule- vard, Cass Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue and Second Avenue, in the exact geographical center of the City of De- troit. The building is the largest office building in the world, with a total floor area of thirty acres, containing 1,700 offices with a capacity of 6,000 people. The building was commenced in 1919. When finally completed, the cost of the building and the appraised value of the land, are estimated at $20,786,000.
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CITY OF DETROIT
under the national bank act of 1863 that means could be commanded for the conduct of large operations. The census of 1850 showed a manufacturing product in Wayne County valued at $1,950,983, and this included a considerable product of the grist and saw mills outside of the city. The product in Washtenaw County was then half as large as that of Wayne, and Lenawee and Oakland were not much behind Washtenaw. From 1860 to 1870 the capital invested in manufacturing in Wayne County, being nearly all in Detroit, increased 256 percent, and the value of the product 303 percent. This was a period of in- flated values and the value of the product increased by a much larger percentage than the quantity of the output. From 1870 to 1880 was a period of declining values, and while the quantity of manufactured goods increased, the aggregate value remained nearly stationary. From 1880 to 1890 the value of the product increased 156 percent, and from 1890 until 1899 about thirty-five percent. The total value of that year was $88,639,000 and the number of employes was about forty-five thousand.
In 1880 Detroit was the nineteenth city in the country in the value of its manufactured products; in 1890 the sixteenth, having passed Jersey City, Louisville, Lowell and Milwaukee, and being passed by Minneapolis. In 1899 it was the fifteenth. In 1909 it had risen to ninth place and five years later it was sixth. In 1916 it reached fourth place, a position which it has since main- tained, being surpassed only by New York, Chicago and Philadelphia in their order. In 1919 the number of industrial employes, as reported by the state labor commissioner, was 310,000 and the value of the manufactured product was $1,450,000,000.
The report of the United States Census Bureau on manufacturers gives the following totals for the calendar year 1919 of the industries within the Detroit city limits. The statement includes the city proper, Highland Park and Hamtramck.
1914
% Increase
Number of establishments
2,150
1919 2,226
03.6
Capital employed.
$405,376,813
$1,230,470,739
203.5
Salaried officials and clerks
21,471
34,928
16.1
Average number of wage earners.
124,638
231,645
84.2
Salaries and wages
$123,044,832
419,774,189
241.2
Cost of materials
$296,852,528
964,963,591
225.1
Value of products.
$569,519,227
1,803,728,219
216.8
In 1914, when the thirteenth census was taken, the capital employed was $405,376,813, the cost of the materials was $296,852,528 and the value of the product was $569,519,227.
In 1919, the difference between the cost of material and the value of the product was $838,744,628. This represents the value added by labor and is equivalent to $3.625 for each wage earner.
The average wages for all classes of work for the past seven years were reported by the labor commissioner as follows:
1913
$2.60
1914
2.67
1915
2.74
1916
2.99
1917
3.59
1918
4.72
1919
5.30
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CITY OF DETROIT
In the latter year the averages for certain classes were: Superintendents, $10.38; foremen, $7.40; traveling salesmen, SS.21; skilled workmen, $6.36; unskilled workmen, $4.89; office men, $5.81; foreladies, $4.38; women superin- tendents, $4.59; office women, $3.21; women over 16 in factories, $3.05.
The peak of employment in this district was reached about July 1, 1920. There was then a gradual decline till the last of September, when the bottom began to drop out. At the end of the year the factories represented in the Employers' Association had less than one-seventh as many men on their pay- rolls as they had six months earlier.
The year 1921 commenced just where 1920 left off. There was steady improvement till the middle of May, when these factories were employing about sixty percent of their maximum. They remained at about this figure up to the last of November. In the last two weeks in December there was again a rapid decline, but much less marked than that of a year earlier.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE INDUSTRIES
In its advanced position in this respect Detroit is noted, as it has been at various other periods, for three things; its superiority over all other cities in a few special lines, the great range and variety of its other products, and the wide distribution of its manufacturing districts. It was the pioneer in the West in the conversion of iron ore into pig, in the making of Bessemer steel and in the rolling of steel rails, though its supremacy in those respects long since passed away. It was among the earliest cities in the West to engage in car building, was the original home of the Pullman car, and afterwards became the largest manufacturer in the country of freight cars, a business which has now very nearly ceased. It took from Albany, Troy and Buffalo the supremacy in stove making and held first place in this for more than two score years. It has for a long time boasted the largest single manufactory of pharmaceutical prepar- ations, and is second only to New York in the total value of that product. It has recently reached second place and will soon hold first in the casting, rolling and manipulation of brass. It is one of only three cities that have a large lead in aluminum castings. It is one of only two, and far the largest of the two, in the making of soda ash and kindred alkalies. At one time it made ninety percent of all the computing machines assembled in the country, and is still far in advance of all competition in that line. It has now a world-wide supremacy as well as a world-wide fame, in the making of automobiles and has a world-wide market for its products in this line. It was by far the largest producer of aeroplane engines, notably the Liberty Motor, during the war, and gives promise of coming to the front in the manufacture of the planes themselves.
Aside from the specialties, in which it is beyond competition, the city is remarkable for the variety of its products. It is not specially known as an iron city, yet its iron industries are large and varied, and it is one of the largest consumers of pig iron in the country. The brass and copper industries are almost as varied as those of iron, including nearly every variety of mechanical appliance in which precision is desired, and every article of household furniture and use. Michigan was for many years the leading white pine state, and is still one of the large producers of ornamental and useful hard woods. Among Detroit's industries are included a great variety of those in which wood is the chief material. The city is not a large producer of textile fabrics as a whole,
.
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CITY OF DETROIT
but excels in certain special lines, notably overalls. It makes many varieties of electrical appliances and a host of other things. The Census Bureau's sur- vey of manufactures for 1914 showed 260 different classes of manufactures in the city, and there are scores and even hundreds of articles under each class. This diversity of manufacture is one of the best elements of its prosperity. Skilled mechanics are trained in every branch, and work is to be had in almost every line. More important yet is the home market that is created for a variety of products. In many manufactured articles Detroit is its own best customer. The report of the State Labor Commissioner for 1918 shows 155 different factories which employed 300 or more hands each. Of these forty- eight employed over 1,000 and five over 10,000.
Detroit's manufacturing industries are not, as in some cities, collected in a single congested and unwholesome district. They throng the river front and adjacent streets from Woodward Avenue to Belle Isle bridge. They make a sizable manufacturing city by itself of the Milwaukee Junction district, and one almost equally large about West Detroit Junction. They occupy a number of separate blocks in the down-town districts. They scatter along the banks of the River Rouge, and their tall chimneys and derricks dot the landscape along the salt and soda district for eight miles west of the city limits. They occupy nearly all the sites along the inner belt line railroad and have already taken up several miles of frontage on the outer line, or Detroit Terminal Railway as it is called. This separation of industries over large areas gives great advantage of profit, convenience and accessibility. It prevents the crowding of freight into one section. It prevents the raising of factory sites to a prohibitive or speculative price. It gives opportunity to intersperse the factory districts with cottage districts so that wage earners may live reasonably near their work.
ACCESSIONS FROM OTHER CITIES
The period from 1904 to 1910 was especially marked by the removal of manufacturing companies from other cities to Detroit. This was partly due to exceptionally good industrial conditions in this city, which was then, as now, more of an "open shop" town than any other large industrial center in the country. It was partly due also to the fact that general conditions for manu- facture and shipment were excellent and that residential attractions were supe- rior. The rise of the automobile industry was a still more important factor in this result, acting as a magnet in drawing hither many factories engaged in allied production. In the space of four years thirty companies moved here from other cities or established branches here. In the number were some which have since taken rank among the largest in the city.
Early in 1903 the Packard automobile was being manufactured at a small small plant in Warren, Ohio. A little group of young men in Detroit, with inherited wealth, business training and prophetic vision, bought the machinery and business and moved them to Detroit.
The same year the Arithmometer Company, now the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, moved here from St. Louis, mainly to escape the trade union domination in that city. Along with the machinery they brought on special trains 253 families, arriving here in the afternoon.
Morgan & Wright, one of the constituent organizations of the United States Rubber Company, moved here from Chicago, primarily to be near the best market for their product. They commenced with 800 men making a variety of
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CITY OF DETROIT
rubber goods. They have since employed 4,800 at one time, working mainly on automobile tires.
What is now the Timken-Detroit Axle Company, brought machinery and a working force from Canton, Ohio, coming because this was their best market for automobile axles. The machinery was speedily set up in a factory, fortunately found vacant, and the employers announced that they would ultimately employ 1,000 men. They actually increased their force within a few years to nearly 5,000.
Those given are, perhaps, the best examples of the impetus given to Detroit industry by factories moving from other cities. But there are numerous others. A list of twenty-one companies, selected on account of their rapid growth, shows a total of 5,245 employes when they started at various periods. The same com- panies had 48,000 on their rolls in the latter part of 1917. They came to Detroit not by reason of artificial inducements, such as bonuses, stock promotions, free sites, free water or exemption from taxation, for no such inducements were offered, but for business and residence considerations alone. It is noticeable also that the period that was most fruitful in this respect was coincident with the early activities of the Board of Commerce, an organization that was in many ways helpful to these new enterprises.
The necessary industry of milling and the small trades, common blacksmith shops, boat, canoe and carriage building, were about all the mechanical indus- tries they had until after the American occupation. In 1810 there was a house- hold production of flax and woolen goods, hats, soap and candles with a little tanning of hides, and the making of saddles and bridles. The estimated value of all these goods was $24,842. In 1820 the factory product was valued at $19,100, with 31 men employed and $5,315 paid in wages. In 1840 the value of the man- ufactured produet was $312,470, of which $116,375 was the product of flour, grist and saw mills.
BEGINNING OF MODERN DEVELOPMENT
It was in the decade before the Civil war that the foundation of a number fo modern industries was laid. In 1853 the first car works were built, and in 1856 the first match factory. Both of these were large industries for more than half a century thereafter. In 1852 the first large vessel was launched and one of the big shipbuilding plants of the present day is in direct succession from that ven- ture, retaining even the same location. In 1863 the first marine engine was built and the second of to-day's big ship yards was the outgrowth of that enterprise. In 1858 the first varnish factory was built, and the business is still conducted in the same location and under the same family name. In 1860 the first stove was built here. Its maker, Jeremiah Dwyer, in after years, organized the first two stove companies, saw the city reach the front rank in that line of industry, and fifty-nine years after his first venture, was still president of one of the largest stove companies in the country. The "Mayflower" tobacco was first manu- factured here in 1853. It has been made by the same family and has gone under the same name ever since.
It is interesting to take Detroit's leading industries topically and chrono- logically. The town was located on the edge of the forests. The whole county and all the surrounding country, for that matter, were densely wooded. Besides that an abundant supply of logs could be easily and economically floated down lake and river from the immense pine areas farther north. Working in wood
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