Detroit Was Once the Largest Manufacturer of Stoves

When you hear the term “Motor City” or “Motown” we think of Detroit. But years ago Detroit could very easily have been called “Stove City” (“Stotown”?)

Beginning in the 1870s and for a couple of decades, Detroit’s claim to fame was...stoves. In fact, it manufactured the largest stove in the entire world. Why stoves, of all things?

With all the iron ore being mined in the Upper Peninsula and easily transported down to Detroit via the Great Lakes and Soo Locks, plenty of iron & steel were made, necessary for stoves at the time. Without hesitation, stove-making became Detroit’s biggest industry.

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Cranking out stove after stove, Detroit was given the not-so-creative title of the “Stove Capital of the World.”

According to Historic Detroit, Detroit held three huge stove manufacturers, including the Michigan Stove Company, who referred to themselves as the world’s biggest stovemakers. They bragged of making over 75,000 stoves annually with only 1,200 factory employees. Michigan Stoves were the makers of Garland Stoves, of which the hugest stove in the world was made.

Why did Detroit make the World's Largest Stove?

For the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Michigan Stove decided to showcase “the world’s largest stove” by commissioning someone to design a giant wooden Garland stove. In the end, this stove was 15 tons, 25 feet high, 30 feet long and 20 feet wide.

Then what?
What happened to the stove when the Exposition was over?
It was sent back to Detroit.

In 1927 the stove was sent to rest at 6000 E. Jefferson, west of the Douglas MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle. In 1965, it was sent to the Michigan State Fairgrounds.

What happened to the World's Largest Stove?

By 1974, the stove was rotting. Being made of wood instead of metal, the stove was deteriorating faster with each passing year. In an attempt to save it, the stove was taken apart and put into storage. When the 150th anniversary of the Michigan State Fair was coming up, the community came together and decided to restore the stove and put it on display at the fair.

After restoration, it was set on a grassy knoll, rededicated, and put on display for all to see on August 24, 1998.

So, the question: where can we go and see this “world’s largest stove”?

Not at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds were closed in 2009, preventing people to go see the stove. Two years later – 2011 – a bolt of lightning zapped the stove, setting it on fire and completely destroying it.

I’ll bet that wouldn’t have happened if they had made it out of steel and iron in the first place.