This building housed and trained the state's Naval reserves for more than 70 years. It also hosted future heavyweight champion Joe Louis' first career boxing match and is home to the largest collection of federally funded Depression-era artwork in Michigan.

The Naval Armory served Sailors and Marines continuously from its construction in 1930 until it closed in 2004. Though Detroit lies hundreds of miles from the ocean, Naval training in the city dates back to the late 1880s. At that time, several seacoast and Great Lakes states formed Naval militias, the forerunners of the U.S. Naval Reserve and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Michigan's Naval militia was formed in 1893, and was a popular pastime for well-heeled Detroiters. Though jokingly referred to as the "Millionaire's Navy," the Detroit reservists proved their worth in the Spanish-American War and World War I.

By 1929, membership had grown to more than 600 men, outgrowing the existing armory. The State appropriated $250,000 (about $4.8 million in 2025 valuation, when adjusted for inflation) to erect a bigger facility near the foot of the bridge leading to Belle Isle. Work was to begin Sept. 1, 1929, and it was to be ready by January 1930. It would be delayed, however, because that wasn't good enough for Detroit. The City wanted to ensure the armory will "be in harmony with the surroundings," the Detroit Free Press reported Oct. 12, 1929.

The State had been asked to appropriate $350,000 (about $6.5 million in 2025 money), so the City Council voted Dec. 24, 1929, to add the missing $100,000 to the pot. The move was advocated for by Naval Reserve officers led by Lt. Col. R. Thornton Brodhead, who said "the State appropriation was insufficient to provide the type of building considered appropriate for the location," the Free Press reported the day after the vote. The City also donated the land along East Jefferson Avenue at Baldwin Street, while the federal government provided the equipment.

The cornerstone was finally laid May 18, 1930. Gov. Fred W. Green was on hand to help lay the stone, but did not speak because of a bad cold. Chaplain H.J. Pearson conducted the dedicatory services while five seaplanes attached to the Naval Reserve circled overhead. Brodhead represented the Naval Reserves. In the cornerstone were sealed three Detroit newspapers, a piece of wood taken from the recently burned U.S.S. Yantic, a list of the present crew and officers, a history of the U.S.S. Yosemite and a list of the men sent from the Reserves after the U.S. entered World War I.

The Detroit Naval Armory, designed by the Detroit firm Stratton & Hyde, combined the vertical and streamlined characteristics of the era's Art Deco and Art Moderne styles.

It would open just five months after the cornerstone was laid, on Oct. 6, 1930. Detroit soprano Elektra Rosanska performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" accompanied by the U.S. Navy Band. The Navy Band performed two concerts for Detroit youth inside the armory that afternoon. Some 4,000 children from Detroit's parochial schools and orphanages packed the drill hall for the first. Another 1,000 from public schools attended the second. A gala celebration was held afterward to further break in the Reserve's new digs.

On Oct. 27, 1930, the armory was opened to the public for the first time in celebration of Navy Day. It was on Oct. 27, 1775, that a special committee presented to the Continental Congress a bill providing for the construction of the first fighting ships for the Navy.

In addition to serving as a training facility, the Naval Armory quickly became a premier civic event site of 1930s Detroit. The armory's huge indoor drill floor was rented to host dances and U.S.O. mixers, auto shows, and political and sporting events. It was here, in 1932, that Louis fought his first career bout -- a two-round loss.

In coming years, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded numerous additions of Depression-era art to the building, including three murals, plaster carvings by Gustave Hildebrand, and extensive wood carvings. With the start of World War II, the armory became a barracks and schoolhouse for as many as 1,200 sailors in Navy diesel and electrical schools. After the war, it reverted to its original use as a training center for reservists. Later in its life, the armory was home to Marines and Sailors of Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines.

The armory was officially renamed the R. Thornton Brodhead Armory in 1947, in honor of the man who was credited with helping to get it built and was the leader of the Naval Reserves at the time that it opened.

The armory's namesake

Richard Thornton Brodhead was a descendant of founding Detroit families such as the Campaus and Macombs. He would carry on a long family tradition of serving his country.

He was was born March 4, 1879, in Washington, D.C., where his father, John Thornton Brodhead, was stationed as an officer in the Marine Corps and Navy. His mother, Jessie Willis Brodhead, was an author. His grandfather Col. Thornton F. Brodhead served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War in 1847 and was Detroit postmaster during the Pierce administration and editor of the Detroit Free Press. He was killed at the Second Bull Run during the Civil War.

R. Thornton Brodhead's Naval career began when he enlisted as an apprentice seamen in 1897 in the Spanish-American War, serving aboard the USS Yosemite as a coxswain and receiving commendation for his marksmanship with the "big guns." When World War I broke out, he re-entered the Navy as a lieutenant and served on the USS Iowa and USS Aeolus. He was commissioned a captain in 1938 and returned to Detroit, where he served as commanding officer of the Second Naval Reserve Area, which included all of Michigan except Berrien County. He was also commander of the Detroit Naval Armory Training School.

His 46-year Naval career came to a close when he was forced to take mandatory retirement when he turned 64 on March 4, 1943. He died at age 68 on July 2, 1947. His body laid in repose inside the Naval Armory.

Brodhead was a "man whose name is almost a synonym for Naval Reserve in the minds of Detroiters," the Detroit Free Press editorial board eulogized in the July 4, 1947, edition. "Capt. Brodhead was one of the civilian Navy's staunchest pillars, and his enthusiasm was one of its great assets."

The newspaper's editorial board then proposed an idea: "We don't know what the service rules are, but if they permitted it, (it) would be fitting to rename it Brodhead Armory."

The measure built steam from there, and the Michigan Legislature formally approved it. The formal dedication of the new name was held on Navy Day, Oct. 27, 1947. Gov. Kim Sigler, Secretary of State Fred Alger Jr. and the Detroit branches of the Navy and American Legion held a ceremony for the occasion. A Navy Day dance was held in the newly rechristened armory that night.

The submarine Tambor, which served during the Battle of Midway during World War II, was assigned to the Brodhead for Reserve training.

The armory was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1980 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

When the building closed in 2004, it was home to the largest collection of federally funded Depression-era artwork of any Michigan building. This led the building's interior to receive a historic designation, a rare feat. However, the building has been hit hard by scrappers and vandals since then, and many of the intricate wood carvings in the doors and staircases have been stolen.

In 2010, a large bronze memorial honoring [Edwin Denby] was stolen off the west side of the armory, likely by scrappers.

Hope for preservation

In August 2021, The Parade Co., which puts on Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade and Fourth of July fireworks, submitted a plan to buy the Brodhead for $300,000 and move its headquarters and parade float storage there. The plan calls for restoring the 37,000-square-foot front portion of the building and drill hall, but would demolish the back half to make way for a new 130,300-square-foot addition. Because the rear of the building is home to much of the surviving WPA artwork, the proposal drew both praise and criticism. The Parade Co. has said it would attempt to save whatever artwork it could if its plan is approved. It also vowed to offer summer camps for kids and host a center for the Detroit Veterans Coalition, where vets can gather, host meetings and plan events.

The architectural firm Rossetti was hired to come up with the new vision for the historic site and Kraemer Design Group for the preservation work.

“Our vision for the new Parade Company headquarters and studio is to create a beautiful, world-class space that is the heart and soul of Detroit,” Tony Michaels, president and CEO of The Parade Co., said on the nonprofit's website. “We challenged ourselves to envision a space that re-imagines the Brodhead Armory and connects our near-century of tradition with our future in Detroit as one of the most stunning parade studios in the country.”

The nonprofit set out to raise $45 million for the project before a deadline to close on the sale in September 2022. It secured $3.5 million in federal funds from U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., but struggled to come up with the rest. As of June 2024, The Parade Co. had commitments of $14.5 million, including the federal earmark, but said it could move forward with the purchase and redevelopment if it hit $36 million.

The Parade Co. got a deadline extension for closing on the purchase until September 2023, and then another until June 30, 2024. Five days before that deadline, the Detroit City Council gave The Parade Co. yet another year, but councilmembers warned that there would not be a fourth.

"I don't want to be here next year having the same conversation," Councilman James Tate of District 1 told Parade Co. leaders.

This third extension gave the organization until June 30, 2025, to close on the acquisition of the armory and an Oct. 1, 2025, deadline to start work on its redevelopment. The project would have to be completed by Aug. 1, 2027.

“That building has been empty for over 20 years and here we are with a project that brings community, kids, summer camps, a veterans office, veterans events, and also cleans up a blighted building on Jefferson Avenue,” Tony Michaels, president and CEO of The Parade Co., told councilmembers in seeking more time. “Everything about this project is good — every single bit of it. It does great things for our region, our city and our state."

Among the opponents of the plan was the Brodhead Armory Association, a veterans group that criticized the planned demolition of two-thirds of the building. It offered to restore the entire facility, but provided no concrete plan or proof of funds.