They called it the "Haven for Honeymooners."

The Wayne Hotel was the center of Detroit social life at the turn of the 20th century. It was also one of the city's most popular hotels of the era.

Construction began in 1885, and the building opened Nov. 30, 1887. The Wayne was designed by architect Gordon W. Lloyd.

The key to the Wayne's success was its location along the Detroit River, at Third Street and Jefferson Avenue. Across the street was the Michigan Central Railroad Depot, and the smoke-belching D&C steamers huffed and puffed their way to a dock there. The popularity of the Wayne makes sense when you think about it: If you're visiting a new town and don't know where you're going, you don't want to get lost by straying too far. The Wayne's proprietor, Jim Hayes, knew this and set out to make the hotel a one-stop shop for visitors. Hayes would run the Wayne for decades.

The hotel was decked to the nines, complete with marble floors, glitzy chandeliers three swanky bars, a hair salon, bubbling fountains, elevators and baths, which were still something of a luxury. There was room for 350 guests. Its location along the river meant that many of its guests got a view of the water and the steamships chugging up and down the river. During the summer, a two-story pagoda-like pavilion built out to the water's edge, provided entertainment, such as music and dancing.

About 1912, Hayes drilled out behind the livery and struck mineral water. This enabled him to tack on a popular mineral bathhouse. Southeast Michigan was fairly renowned at the time for its mineral baths; nearby Mt. Clemens was even known as the Bath City.

The Wayne also boasted a casino and even a roller rink, and it did double duty as an early Detroit convention center. It hosted some of the city's earliest auto shows in its pavilion.

But while the railroad gaveth, it also tooketh away.

In 1913, Michigan Central opened its new depot in Corktown. This led to a dramatic dropoff in business for the Wayne. Then the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, further siphoning off tourism money. Hayes finally closed the hotel in 1922, though the bathhouse limped along for a bit longer.

In the 1920s, the hotel building became the Railway Exchange Building, presumably dealing with the freight rail lines that still were in use on the old Michigan Central tracks. The building was razed in 1931.

D&C took over the Wayne's pavilion and used it until May 1950, when the city condemned the D&C terminal as part of an effort to redevelop the waterfront and make way for what is now Cobo Hall.

The rest of Hayes' empire, including the mineral bathhouse, fell in 1955-58 to make way for Cobo and the Lodge Freeway. The Joe Louis Arena would be built on the site in 1979.

More on this building coming soon.