Detroit's Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels: The Anchors of Washington Boulevard

During the first three decades of the 20th century, Detroit's Washington Boulevard was transformed from a minor backstreet into a major commercial and social center. Three brothers named Book dreamed that Washington Boulevard would become the Fifth Avenue of the Midwest. It was through their efforts, as well as those of businessmen like E.M. Statler, that the dream became a reality. The two fundamental developments that anchored this dream were the massive Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels.

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