Detroit, Michigan: World's Largest Stove (Gone)
An antique-style wood-burning stove that weighed 15 tons and stood 25 feet high. Built in 1893, it was dismantled in 1974, then un-dismantled in 1998. Destroyed by fire in August 2011.
Michigan State Fairgrounds
- Directions:
- North side of downtown, on the Michigan State Fairgrounds. I-75 exit 59 onto Eight Mile Rd and head west.
- Hours:
- Fairgrounds closed 2009. Stove burned in 2011, lightning strike.
- Status:
- Gone
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History's Skid Marks, August 14, 2011: Ten years ago today the World's Largest Stove burned down, a news event so absurd that a lot of people thought it was a joke. 25 feet tall, the stove was built of wood -- on reflection, a dubious strategy -- for the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition (World's Fair), to represent the Michigan Stove Company. It was eventually moved to Detroit, restored in 1998, and continued to be a quirky distraction for travelers. The giant stove was incinerated by a bolt of lightning (supposedly).
The nearby World's Largest Tire somehow remained unscathed.
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 08/14/2021]The World's Largest Stove burned down on August 14, 2011 (Authorities believe it was hit by lighting.)
I guess that's happens when you build a stove out of wood.
[Michael Bauser, 08/14/2011]
Largest Stove in the World outside of Detroit.
[Ann Carden, 11/12/2008]Billed as the "Largest Stove in the World", the Michigan Stove Co.'s 1893 Columbian Exposition construction, was restored and re-erected at the Michigan State Fair on Aug. 24th 1998. Before there was a Uniroyal Tire in Detroit there was "The Stove." It is about 20'w. X 35'l. X 22'h. and weighs 15 tons.
[Blake Hayes, 09/01/1998]The giant stove of Detroit is on view at the Michigan State Fair in Detroit, Michigan. This is an antique replica of an old coal/wood burning stove, the manufacturing of which was a major industry in Detroit, before automobiles. Also, the giant tire near Detoit has picked up a giant nail!
[Dam Postellon, 08/29/1998]Latest Tips Across Roadside America
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The stove was 25-ft. tall, made of wood, for the Chicago World's Fair back in 1893. The World's Largest Tire weeps.