Encyclopedia Of Detroit

The Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District stands in the heart of Detroit’s downtown retail district along Randolph Street, between Monroe and Macomb streets. The district consists of six buildings which compose a rare surviving group of Victorian-era commercial structures, including the two buildings at 1236-1244 Randolph originally built in the 1840s. 

The district has been a center of retail activity in Detroit since the area was first established in 1840. Although the exteriors of the two to four story buildings in this district have been continuously altered over the years, they still retain their unique brickwork and metal window hoods, characteristic of their original Victorian Italianate design and construction. Unfortunately, a City of Detroit cornice removal program in the 1950s removed all the buildings’ original friezes and cornices. 

The commercial buildings on Randolph Street flourished as a shopping district into the 20^th century, housing numerous commercial enterprises over the years including legal offices and shops for tailors, jewelers, printers, druggists, publishers, artists, and sculptors. By the early 1900s, the District was largely composed of dry goods and clothing establishments, which still engaged in the old-fashioned practice of bartering within the clothing and shoe stores rather than setting fixed prices. Today, the area is adjacent to the Greektown district, and most of the buildings house street level bars or restaurants, with the upper floors of the buildings remaining unoccupied. The last remaining clothing establishment, Serman’s, at 1238 Randolph, closed in 2013 after 96 years in business. The building was acquired by Rock Ventures LLC in 2013.

The Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1980.

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