Grand Circus Park Historic District
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Looking southwest
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Location |
Detroit, Michigan, United States |
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Coordinates | 42°20′10″N 83°3′2″W / 42.33611°N 83.05056°WCoordinates: 42°20′10″N 83°3′2″W / 42.33611°N 83.05056°W |
Built | 1867 |
NRHP Reference # | 83000894; 00001488 (boundary increase) |
Added to NRHP | February 28, 1983; December 07, 2000 (boundary increase); December 12, 2012 (additional documentation approved) |
The Grand Circus Park Historic District contains the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Grand Circus Park in Downtown Detroit, Michigan that connects the theatre district with its financial district. It is bisected by Woodward Avenue, four blocks north of Campus Martius Park, and is roughly bounded by Clifford, John R. and Adams Streets. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The building at 25 West Elizabeth Street was added to the district in 2000, and additional structures located within the district, but built between 1932 and 1960, were approved for inclusion in 2012.
A part of Augustus Woodward's plan to rebuild the city after the fire of 1805, the city established the park in 1850. Woodward's original plan called for the park to be a full circle, but after construction began, property owners north of Adams Street were reluctant to sell due to rising land values. The Detroit Opera House overlooks the eastern edge of the park and the grounds include statuary and large fountains. Near this historic site, General George Armstrong Custer delivered a eulogy for thousands gathered to mourn the death of President Abraham Lincoln. Architect Henry Bacon designed the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain (1921) in Grand Circus Park. Bacon's other projects include the Lincoln Memorial (1915–1922) in Washington, D.C. The fountain contains a classic Roman figure symbolizing Michigan by American sculptor Daniel French who sculpted the figure of Lincoln for the Memorial.