It is time to celebrate another miracle in the ‘burg - an old building that has managed not to be knocked down. This go ’round we’re talking about the Detroit Hotel. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Detroit, that’s the one just above/behind that ghetto liquor store you usually hit up before going to a show at Jannus.

The Detroit was built in 1888, named after John Williams’ (the dude the park is named after, not the awesome composer) hometown of Des Moines - wait, no, that doesn’t sound right. Anywho, Peter Demens (who brought the first railroad here) named the city after his birthplace of Dzerzhinsk, Russia - wait… The romantic story that we tend to believe today, but probably isn’t true, is that John Williams and Peter Demens stood on the corner of Central and Second Street and flipped a coin for naming rights. Peter won, thus naming the city after his hometown, and runner up John named the hotel after his.

While the building still exists, it is no longer a hotel, instead housing what I can only assume are the world’s most annoying condos (how does one sleep when Insane Clown Posse is playing at Jannus?) What is really pretty awesome, though, is that the majority of the architectural stylings of the original hotel remain thanks to a 2002 renovation that saved the building from the wrecking ball. Let’s take a look at a few pictures, shall we?

Above is the oldest picture I know of the hotel, boy was St. Pete bustling back in those days. Take note of the tower and the dormer windows, references to that original architecture still exist today.

The above photo isn’t dated, but was probably taken sometime after the first round of renovations in 1914. Of particular interest to me is the minaret added to enhance the entrance, which is reminiscent of Henry Plant’s Tampa Hotel (now UT), built in 1891 in the then popular Moorish style. (If you’re interested, there’s a pretty awesome history of that hotel here.)

Someone call the cops, the tower has been stolen! However, in this undated photo we see the brick buildings added on either side that are still recognizable today, as are the balconies.

My guess on the above photo is somewhere in the 30’s/40’s. The Vinoy was completed in 1925, and the Detroit probably went with the pink paint job in the hopes it would add some class to the joint. Thank goodness it didn’t last. The minaret has been axed, the dormers and chimneys knocked down and the sign that is still there today (see below) has been added.

Marty McFly it about 60 years forward and we’ve got the best current photo I could find, which is pretty shitty. You can, however, see the referential architecture which returned in 2002 with the tower and dormers.

Here’s a bonus combo of an old newspaper ad for the Detroit Restaurant and a current image of the sign that still pokes out of the side of the building (although in a slightly different configuration than the original.)

Whew, that’s a lot to digest. If you’re interested in which hotel has existed longest in St. Pete and is still running, that would be the Pier Hotel on 2nd Ave N, built in 1921 and still operating daily as a hotel.