On May 5, 1831, Sheldon McKnight began publishing a four page weekly newspaper called the Democratic Free Press and Michigan Intelligncer. By 1835, it became a six times every week newspaper with its own four-story building. The name was shortened to the Democratic Free Press. These, however, were not easy years for this paper. McMcKnight sold his enterprise in 1836 just after he was acquitted of murder changes that resulted from a barroom fight. And then the next year, the paper’s building burned to the ground.
In the 1850s, under the editorship of Wilbur
Storey, this newspaper may have been the first in the nation to publish a
Sunday edition. Storey was also one
of a small number of northern editors who strongly opposed the abolition of
slavery. He claimed to be the founder of “beat” reporting. That
is, he assigned a reporter to walk the docks of Detroit daily to learn about
shipping,
trade and what was happening in the origin points of the many ships that offloaded
products along the Detroit River. That is, Storey’s reporter walked a
beat every day. In 1878, the Free Press became the first newspaper to publish
a section targeted to the interests of women. Three years later, the paper
became the first United States paper to publish an edition in Europe. The London
version of the Detroit Free Press was a weekly and eventually gained a circulation
of 90,000. 
The building you see pictured above opened in 1925. At this time, circulation of the Free Press was less than that of its two rivals: The Detroit Times, owned by William Randolph Hearst, and the Detroit News, owned by James Scripps, but published on presses owned by the Detroit Free Press. That ranking may explain why the building has the shape that you see today. The commanding 13-story tower at the center of the structure was designed to be rental space. The two six-story wings on either side of the tower were to be used by the newspaper. Although there are Art Deco touches, the limestone facing suggests that Albert Kahn was influenced by the classical tradition when he designed this magnificent and imposing structure. Many of his buildings, especially the First National Bank and the General Motors Building clearly convey the importance of the firm occupying them.
The sculplted stone on the exterior of this building is extraordinary and merits a close look. The carvings represent images of the industrial era when this structure was built. To design these bas reliefs, Kahn recruited Ulysses Ricci who was a popular stone carver in that era. His sculpture appears on the outsides of many impressive building throughout the United States and Canada. Kahn used his talents to add stone carved images to the exterior of the General Motors Building and the Fisher Tower in Detroit and to Angell Hall and the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The Detroit Free Press used this structure for 76 years before leaving the building in 2001. It has been available for other uses since that time, but was unoccupied in 2009. The Detroit Free Press Historical Marker is now affixed to the Detroit News Building at 615 West Lafayette.
Architect: Albert Kahn
Architectural Style: Art Deco and Classical themes
Date of Completion: 1925
Use in 2009: Empty building awaiting renovation
Sculptor for the many bas relief figures on the exterior: Ulysses A. Ricci
Website for the Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com
Website describin the history of the Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/legacy/jobspage/club/fphist.htm
City of Detroit Designated Historic District: Not listed
State of Michigan Registry of Historic Sites: Listed January 8, 1981
State of Michigan Historic Marker: Put in place April 7, 1981. This is on the Fort Street side of the Detroit Free Press Building.
National Registry of Historic Places: Not listed
Photograph: Ren Farley; May 2, 2009
Description prepared: June, 2009