Louise's comments are especially true about the industrial buildings built in Detroit in the early 20th century.

The new heavy machinery needed to build autos and their parts needed lots of support, so the buildings were extremely solid.

Many of the buildings used the new reinforced concrete. Because it was new, the concrete was over-engineered to be especially strong.

That's partially why there are acres of abandoned buildings still standing in Detroit. The buildings are so solid that it's very expensive to tear them down.

Good looking, sorry it is gone. Hope those neat supports for the front canopy found a good home, though. Today it would be a great candidate into converting into really cool, loft apartments --- all that glass. Sigh!

That seems to be the story with most American architecture. What is always startling is the realization that these buildings were constructed with an eye to longevity. Buildings erected in the late 19th and early 20th Century, especially, seem to have been built with the optimistic purpose of matching the centuries-long endurance of European cities. Stanford White's buildings, such as the long-gone Madison Square Garden, fall into that genre.Of course, their spacial use, and heating and plumbing systems rapidly became considered obsolete.

The dynamism of American capitalism has taught us to build structures with a much shorter lifespan. McMansions, even those with marble kitchen countertops, will probably not survive as long as the A.J. Smith building did.

The construction work of the A.J. Smith Co. was for the Arthur Colton Co., manufacturers of phamaceutical machines, capsule fillers, etc. Building was located at 2618 E. Jefferson Avenue at the southeast corner of Chene St. and was completed in October 1916 and not ca. 1912. It was torn down prior to 1960, meaning it has been gone longer than it stood.