Motown Museum

Detroit, Michigan

Headquarters for Motown Records.

Back in 1959, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy purchased this former photographer's studio in Detroit.  Nicknamed “Hitsville U.S.A,” the building became Motown's first official headquarters as the photography studio in the back was converted into a recording studio.

Motown became the soundtrack of the civil rights movement, and one particular song became its anthem.  Martha and the Vandellas' Dancin’ In the Street was released as a single between the race riots in Harlem and Philadelphia and after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, the track became a call to action across the nation.  Though Gordy relocated Motown Records to Los Angeles in 1972, the original building now serves as the Motown Historical Museum and has been carefully preserved.