Hudson's - DETROIT EDITION 1997 - Detroit, MI
N 42° 20.022 W 083° 02.880
17T E 331275 N 4688858
Hudson's was a department store located at 1206 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was constructed beginning in 1911 was demolished in a controlled demolition October 24, 1998, and at the time it was the tallest building ever imploded
Waymark Code: WM1C2Q5
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2025
Views: 1
Designed by Smith, Hinchman, & Grylls, Hudson's consisted of approximately 33 levels: five basements, main floor, mezzanine, 2nd through 15th floors, 15 1/2 floor, 16th through 21st floors, 21 1/2 floor, and 22nd through 25th floors. Only the upper two basements through the 12th floor covered the entire footprint of the structure. A tower rose over 400 feet above the Farmer Street side. On all four sides, porcelain-covered copper letters spelled "HUDSON'S" in red neon.
Hudson's boasted about 2.2 million sq. ft. of retail and office space, included several restaurants and was built in the Chicago School architectural style. The facade was red brick above the second floor. Below that, it consisted of polished pink granite panels. Terra-cotta cornices and rosettes were extensively employed, along with ornamental ironwork. "JLH"-emblazoned ovals decorated frosted windows on the mezzanine and 3rd through 5th floors.
The building measured 439 feet (134 m) tall from its second basement to the top of the penthouse tower. It was also topped by a 110 feet (34 m) high flagpole.
The store closed January 17, 1983 (at the nadir of downtown Detroit's decline).
After closure, Hudson's maintained its headquarters staff of about 1,100 in the downtown store. In May 1984, The J. L. Hudson Co. formally merged into the Department Store Division of the Dayton Hudson Corp., although Hudson's stores continued to carry the Hudson's name. All executive and buying positions transferred to Minneapolis, and other staff moved to space at the Northland Center store in Southfield. The last corporate department in the downtown Detroit building, credit operations, moved in October 1986. Dayton Hudson sold the building in December 1989.
Hudson's was demolished by Controlled Demolition, Inc. at 5:47 p.m. ET on October 24, 1998. 20,000 people watched as the building was imploded — turning it into a 60-foot (18 m) tall pile of debris. The demolition shattered windows on many then-still-abandoned retail buildings across Woodward Avenue, created a large debris and dust cloud that shrouded many parts of downtown Detroit as far south as Jefferson Avenue in dust (including thousands of people and vehicles) and accidentally damaged a section of the elevated Detroit People Mover. Many people watched the demolition from Hart Plaza at the foot of Woodward Avenue and Dieppe Gardens in Windsor.
The city constructed a 955-space, four-level underground parking garage at the site using parts of the basement of the demolished tower in 2001.-
J. L. Hudson Department Store and Addition
For historic photos of the building see
here
For video of the demolition of the legendary building see
here
Hudson's occupies the red Indiana Avenue property on a regulation Monopoly board.
The original Hudson's building was demolished. They are in the finishing stages of erecting a new building on the site.