The
Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District is Detroit's most outstanding
community of multi-family housing units. Adjacent to the wooded area of Palmer
Park, the Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District incorporates a
suburban concept of living in an urban environment. The historic district is on
a tract of land that was originally part of Thomas Palmer, Jr.'s estate, Walnut Lane. Palmer was an important national
figure during the 1880s and 1890s and served as Ambassador to Spain,
U.S. Senator, and President of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. His
650 acre estate would eventually be separated into the
Palmer
Woods subdivision, the Detroit Golf Club, and the Palmer Park
Apartment Buildings. After Palmer's death in 1913, a portion of his
estate was sold to Walter O.
Briggs, a Detroit capitalist and
philanthropist, who in 1925 engaged Albert Kahn to design the Walbri
Court Apartments at 1001 Covington, the first building in the
complex. From 1925 to 1965, 40 buildings were constructed, with the
majority built in the 1920s and 1930s, to accommodate middle-class
and upper middle-class tenants. The Palmer Park Apartment Buildings
reflect the latest concepts and technology in multiple-family
housing unit design from the time and are excellent examples of
various exotic architectural styles such as the Egyptian, Spanish,
Mediterranean, Venetian, Tudor, and Moorish Revival styles.
