3845 West Fort Street
R. W. Hollister Dealership, George Holzbaugh Dealership, Germer-Kerrison, Vinco Corporation, Campsie & Sweeney, Fort Boulevard Automotive
I’ll start this piece by stating two interesting things about this structure. First, there’s a bowling alley on the second floor. Second, it appears that the owner is preparing to demolish it. Those two facts aren’t related, but the latter’s implications will make the former untrue. Man, what a bummer.
3845 West Fort Street was completed around 1928. I’m not sure who designed it or whom it was constructed for; however, it was initially utilized by R. W. Hollister, a car dealership. They sold used cars in addition to being an authorized Hupmobile dealer. When it opened, there was a service station where the shorter-curved brick structure is today.
When the structure opened, a bowling alley was on the second floor. Throughout the 1930s, it was an incredibly popular place for leagues, tournaments, and charity and business events. In 1938, there were 14 alleys at Fort Boulevard Recreation, which, at the time, may have been run by Jim Hobbs, the president of the Bowling Proprietors Association, who was forced to retire in 1943 due to his health. The last mention I’ve found of the bowling alley was in 1961.
Downstairs, R. W. Hollister had a decade and a half’s experience dealing cars and had another location on Grand River. However, the 1930s weren’t kind to the Hupp Motor Car Company, and the business had folded by the decade’s end. R. W. Hollister’s operation at Fort and Grand Boulevard was last mentioned in the paper around 1930 and 1933 on Grand River.
By 1930, George Holzbaugh, Inc. had moved into the space. Holzbaugh, an authorized Ford dealer, sold used cars and offered full service. Throughout the 1930s, numerous reports of stolen vehicles were reported at their showroom. Eventually, Russel Burgett, a 37-year-old former police officer, was arrested for at least four stolen vehicles. He pretended to be a customer and drove off with cars with keys in their ignition.
After roughly a decade on Fort Street, Holzbaugh left the business. His obituary said that he sold it, and I’d guess that he did so in March 1940, as that’s the last mention of his operation and the first mention of the one that followed. Holzbaugh died in January 1947 of undulant fever at his cattle farm near Mt. Clemens. He was just 52.
After leaving the business in March 1942, Germer-Kerrison, Inc. took over the space. It was an authorized Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln-Zephyr Dealership. In September 1942, the business had closed, and everything inside was liquidated and sold.
Starting in October 1943, the Vinco Corporation utilized the space. They were constantly hiring due to the high number of military work the company did at the time. They manufactured precision instruments that were a part of the reason Detroit is credited with helping the United States win the war. There were small shops like this all over the city, most of which closed after the atomic bomb was dropped and the war officially ended in the States. The Vinco Corp utilized the space for a few years but was gone by 1947 when the structure became a dealership again.
This time, cars were sold under the Campsie & Sweeney nameplate. Their company had been in business since 1935. In addition to selling Mercury automobiles, they serviced cars and eventually sold ‘English Fords,’ which I assume were imported Fords from England. The last mention of the business was in 1966.
In 1966, Fort Boulevard Automotive was incorporated with the intent of selling aftermarket parts and services for cars and trucks. From incorporation, its address was 3845 West Fort Street, pictured here.
Over the years, Fort Boulevard Auto filed numerous assumed names to run various businesses out of the structure, including Detroit Engine and Kits Company, F.B.A. Engine Parts Warehouse Company, Fort Boulevard Advertising Agency, Auto-Reman Computer Systems, Engine Parts Warehouse of Michigan, and Moore’s Auto Supply, which was one of the last names to be sprawled across the structure’s awning. The remaining awning has ‘EPW’ on it, which stands for Engine Parts Warehouse.
Fort Boulevard Automotive’s address is still listed at the structure pictured here, and their paperwork has been updated regularly. The most recent owner on file for the building is Richard H. Cameron, who owns Fort Boulevard Automotive and all its assumed names. However, it was recently sold to Crown Enterprises, the Maroun family's real estate holding company.
In recent weeks, all the windows were removed from the structure, including the metal framing on many. You can peak into the near century-old (at the time of writing) structure and hop inside one of the windows on the Vinewood side if you want to.
I hope this building isn’t going to be demolished. It’s absolutely stunning—the exterior details alone make this structure architecturally significant. Additionally, the area has seen recent investments. Riverside Park, which recently saw a multi-million dollar renovation, is right around the corner. Across the highway sits Hubbard Farms, one of Detroit’s most stable neighborhoods. Although the rumor about this structure might be just that, a rumor, considering the lack of windows and the amount of rain we’ve had recently, it’s worth noting that this structure is not being taken care of at this point.
Hopefully, work will begin here soon to negate the last two paragraphs.
