6460 Kercheval Avenue
Frederick M. Sibley Lumber Company, Antique/Furniture Store, Seafoam Palace
The offices of the Frederick M. Sibley Lumber Company were completed in 1917. By 1923, the business had locations on Jefferson, Grand River, and Hamilton in addition to their headquarters on Kercheval, pictured here.
The company crafted various wood products and even produced ping-pong tables. An advertisement in the Detroit Free Press from 1931 calls them ‘Indoor Tennis Tables,’ and for citizens to buy straight from the manufacturer to save money. A standard 5x9 table was $15 ($280 today), and a ‘Table De Luxe’ was $28 ($520 today).
In 1932, there was space for rent in the office building and manufacturing facilities behind it. The offices had heat, light, phone, parking, and vault services. There were up to 50,000 square feet available for rent in the factory. The F. M. Sibley Lumber Company continued its operations there afterward.
There were strikes by workers at the facility in 1935 and 1941. Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, the company was constantly hiring. Typically, this is because of a high turnover rate, which was evident by the strikes. Throughout the 1940s, H. G. Bay was in charge of hiring. In the early 1950s, Mr. Dawson took over.
In May 1952, a five-alarm blaze caused $200,000 ($2.2 million today) in damages to the mill building behind the offices. Firefighter Stanley Thornton, 36, was killed by a collapsing brick wall. Others were injured. Thornton had a wife and five children. Only the mill was damaged—a three-story structure measuring 100 by 160 feet.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Thronton’s wife would receive a $4,500 ($50K today) insurance payment, a $100 monthly pension, and $20 monthly for each child until they turn 18. That’s roughly $1,350 per month today.
Business continued as usual at Sibley Lumber through the early 1960s. I’m not certain when the company closed its doors for good, but by the early 80s, 6460 Kercheval was no longer in use by Sibley Lumber.
Starting in 1983, the structure was utilized for antique and furniture sales. The advertisements listed various products, from stained glass windows to miscellaneous kitchen equipment. I’m not sure how long these sales continued, but they occurred again in the late 1990s.
In 2011, Seafoam Palace purchased the building. They planned to turn it into a museum art exhibit. According to their website, “Seafoam Palace is an arts organization that celebrates the otherworldly and absurd. Our aim is to engage the imagination with unconventional artworks, workshops, events, and poetic interpretations of scientific and anthropological phenomena and artifacts.”
Their operation continued for a few years, but they sold the building in 2020. When I took these photos, there were fresh prints in the snow that indicated work was ongoing inside or someone had been trespassing. I assume the former. This structure is well-secured.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. This designation will help save it from demolition and can provide tax credits; however, in Detroit, nothing is promised.
Hopefully, we’ll see some action here soon.
