Kern's Clock

Kern's Dept. Store Clock

Detroit, Michigan

When Kern's department store was built on Woodward Ave. in 1929 its famous clock was installed above the store's main entrance at the corner of Woodward and Gratiot. In the early 1940s the clock was mounted on a pole on the sidewalk near the entrance as can be seen in this 1945 photo by Detroit Free Press photographer, Tony Spina.

The store closed on December 23, 1959 and sat derelict for several years. In preparation for the building's demolition in 1966 the clock was removed and put in storage. In the 1970s  it was returned to the corner of Woodward and Gratiot near the J. L. Hudson Co. store. It was again removed and put in storage for safekeeping before the Hudson's building on the next block was demolished in 1998.

In 2003 Compuware, which now occupies the Kern's site, had the historic clock restored and mounted on this granite sidewalk pedestal near its original location on the corner of Woodward and Gratiot Avenues.



Read more about the Ernst Kern Co.

  Pin It Now!