Commercial Building 70 Monroe, Detroit Michigan
The structure is a commercial building constructed in brick masonry in 1852. It measures 30' wide and 100' deep on the first story. On the second story, the south bay is 100' deep, while the north bay is 60 feet deep. On the third and fourth stories the building is 60 deep. It is similar in design to the one at 58 Monroe, except it is four window bays wide instead of three. The building features cast iron window lintels with urn and scroll motifs over its rectangular windows (with one-over-one-lights). Remnants of a cast-iron entablature with trigiyphs is evident over the second story.
Hiram R. Johnson (1825-1894), a prominant Detroit businessman, bought the real estate where this building stands in 1852 and erected a series of commercial buildings known as the Johnson Block. The architect is unknown. Detroit's first nickelodeon movie house, the Casino Theater, occupied the first floor from 1906 until 1915. More recent tenants included the Famous Barrel Bar, from 1937 on, and Father a Son Shoes, from the early 1950s until 1975. The upper-floor tenants are not listed in the City Directories and cannot be identified.
