L. B. King and Company Building

Infobox_nrhp | name = L. B. King and Co. Building
nrhp_type =

---

caption = L. B. King and Co. Building from across Library St.
location= Detroit, Michigan
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 20
lat_seconds = 5
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 83
long_minutes = 2
long_seconds = 51
long_direction = W
locmapin = Michigan
area =
built =1910
architect= Rogers & MacFarlane; Walter MacFarlane
architecture= Renaissance Revival
added = June 12, 1987
governing_body = Private
refnum=87000927cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The L. B. King and Company Building is a commercial building located at 1274 Library Street in Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as the Annis Furs Building.

History

L. B. King was born in Detroit in 1851, was educated in the city, and earned a BS degree from the University of Michigan in 1874. [http://detroit1701.psc.isr.umich.edu/King-Annis%20Building.html L. B. King Building/Annis Furs Building] from Detroit1701.org] After graduation, King joined his father's crockery and glassware firm, which had been founded in 1849. He rose through the ranks to become president of the company in 1907, by which time the company was specializing as a china wholesaler.

In 1910, King engaged architects Rogers and Macfarlane to design this building as their offices. The firm maintained its headquarters in the building from 1911 to 1932. In 1932, Annis Furs, a wholesale and retail furrier established by Newton Annis in 1887, moved into the building. They used the building until 1983, nearly the last example of the fur industry that helped found Detroit nearly 300 years earlier. [http://books.google.com/books?id=sZGskamYzjUC Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter,] "AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture," Wayne State University Press, 2002, ISBN 0814331203, 9780814331200, p. 46] In 1988, the building was refurbished by Frank Z. Martin.

Both L. B. King and Company and Annis Furs were prominent commercial firms in the history of Detroit. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the state of Michigan historic register in 1987.

Description

The L. B. King and Company Building is a six-story commercial building with a steel frame with white terra cotta cladding on the facade. [http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/15750.htm King, L. B., and Company Building] from the state of Michigan] The facade of the lower two stories are virtually all glass; the upper four stories are divided into four vertical sections, each with Chicago-style windows. Atop the building is an elaborate cornice which was added in 1926. The building exemplifies the commercial Chicago style of architecture that was extensively used in the early twentieth century.

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=C269WTcU_0sC Elbert Hubbard,] "A Little Journey to L. B. King & Company's: Being an Appreciation," The Roycrofters, 1913 (26 pages)

References