Famous people's places / Detroit – Downtown
Cadillac Tower
A 40-story Neo-Gothic skyscraper on Cadillac Square, opened in 1927 as the Barlum Tower and still one of downtown Detroit's tallest buildings.
01 / The story of this place
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John Barlum set out in the 1920s to remake Cadillac Square into a wall of skyscrapers, and this 40-story tower, financed with help from his cousin and former Detroit mayor William Barlum Thompson, was the centerpiece. It opened in November 1927 as the Barlum Tower, the tallest building outside New York City and Chicago to reach 40 floors. Its blank west wall exists because the tower originally stood shoulder to shoulder with the neighboring Cadillac Square Building, long since demolished. Renamed Cadillac Tower in the 1950s, the Neo-Gothic skyscraper has stayed in continuous use as an office building and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
- Opened November 9, 1927, as the Barlum Tower
- First 40-story building outside New York City and Chicago
- Built by John Barlum with former Detroit mayor William Barlum Thompson
- Renamed Cadillac Tower in the 1950s
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 1
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- William Barlum Thompson 1860–1941 · meat merchant, city treasurer, mayor of Detroit, developer
Related place
Neo-Gothic office tower on Cadillac Square built by his and his cousin's Cadillac Square Improvement Company as the Barlum Tower.
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
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Official website & visitor information ↗