Help Preserve Michigan Stove Company's Famous Giant Stove Landmark - The World's Largest Stove

The Goodyear Tire on I-94 near the Southfield Freeway exit has served as a local landmark for generations of Detroiters. Such was the case with a giant Garland stove that stood outside the Michigan Stove Company plant on Jefferson and Adair. The stove, built originally for the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, was as big as a house and became a famous landmark.

In the book on Detroit history All Our Yesterdays (Wayne State University Press 1969), authors Frank B. Woodford and Arthur M. Woodford wrote: "No visitor to Detroit did right by his friends and family back home unless he sent them a picture postcard of the 'Detroit stove.'"

"Long before Detroit put the world on wheels it was warming the nation's backsides and keeping its coffee hot. For years the city was the world's foremost manufacturer of stoves and kitchen ranges."

The book states the stove industry began about 1830 but heated up in the 1870s and 80s and "for fifty years or more stove manufacturing was Detroit's leading industry."

In 1927, the famous Garland stove landmark was moved to a pedestal near the Belle Isle bridge. Later, it was slated for the wrecking ball. Public outcry against the destruction resulted in the relocating of the stove to the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1965.

Now you can help preserve this preserve this great monument to one of Detroit's leading industries. The Michigan State Fair Commission is seeking donations to create a paved area to display this famous landmark. See details below:

MEMORIAL BRICK APPLICATION THE WORLD’S LARGEST STOVE

Built by the Michigan Stove Company for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, the World’s Largest Stove” weighed 15 tons and measured 25 feet high, 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. After decades of exposure to Michigan weather, the familiar Detroit landmark was dismantled in 1974 and stored in a warehouse.

In 1998, John Hertel, General Manager of the Michigan State Fairgrounds rallied corporations, labor unions and individuals to restore this symbol of nineteenth-century Detroit industry for present and future generations to enjoy. The restoration project was successful and the “World’s Largest Stove” was unveiled at the Fairgrounds on August 24, 1998.

The majestic stove stands proudly on a grassy knoll with a pathway of Memorial Bricks leading up to it. These bricks provide an enduring legacy and may be ordered by completing the following application and mailing it with a donation of Fifty Dollars ($50.00). Each 4x8” brick has an epoxy filling to ensure durability and each character engraved is 3⁄4”
high for clear visibility.

There is space for three lines of engraving with each line containing a maximum of thirteen characters. To be placed at the Stove site in August 2008, Memorial Bricks must be ordered by May 30th , 2008.

The completed form and a check or money order payable to: The State of Michigan should be mailed to: THE STOVE PROJECT- MICHIGAN STATE FAIRGROUNDS - 1120 W. STATE FAIR AVENUE, DETROIT, MI 48203

Download an application at:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDA_STOVE_APPLICATION_37597_7.PDF

Happy History! Remember, History is all around you. Seek it out!

Karin Risko,
The Happy Historian