Located at 5705 West Fort Street in Detroit's historic Delray neighborhood, the Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch opened in 1920 to serve the rapidly growing working-class communities of Delray and Southwest Detroit during the height of the city's industrial expansion. As automobile factories and related industries transformed the area, neighborhood branch banks became essential, allowing residents to conduct their banking close to home rather than traveling downtown.

The building was designed by Wirt C. Rowland of Albert Kahn, Architects and Engineers, several years before Rowland gained international acclaim for designing Detroit's iconic Guardian Building. It is an early and exceptional example of his work, blending Classical Revival elements with emerging Art Deco design. The two-story reinforced-concrete structure is clad in limestone on its principal elevations, with yellow brick on the remaining sides. Its distinctive façade features fluted Doric columns framing the main entrance, decorative Greek meanders and rosettes, cast-iron spandrels, and restrained geometric ornamentation that reflects the transition from traditional classical architecture to the modern styles of the 1920s.

Inside, the bank retains many original features, including its pink marble entrance vestibule, marble banking counters, vault, woodwork, and decorative plaster detailing. Despite years of vacancy and some water damage, the building remains remarkably intact and continues to convey its historic role as a neighborhood financial institution.

The Detroit Savings Bank, founded in 1849, was one of Detroit's oldest financial institutions and a pioneer in branch banking. By establishing neighborhood branches like the Southwest Branch, the bank helped make financial services accessible to the city's rapidly expanding working-class population, many of whom were employed in nearby factories. Branches also offered conveniences such as evening hours, mortgage services, money transfers, and tax payments, becoming important community institutions throughout Detroit's neighborhoods.

Recognizing both its architectural distinction and its importance in Detroit's banking history, the Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 2021. Today, it stands as one of the finest surviving early twentieth-century neighborhood bank buildings in Southwest Detroit and an important early work by master architect Wirt C. Rowland.