First Congregational Church (Detroit)

Last updated

First Congregational Church
First Congressional Church of Christ, Detroit, Michigan.tif
First Congregational Church in 2019, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith.
Location33 East Forest Avenue
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates 42°21′19″N83°3′46″W / 42.35528°N 83.06278°W / 42.35528; -83.06278
Built1891; 1921 (addition)
ArchitectJohn Lyman Faxon; Albert Kahn
Architectural style Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No. 79001173 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 4, 1979
Designated MSHSJuly 26, 1974 [2]

The First Congregational Church is located at 33 East Forest Avenue (on the corner of Forest and Woodward Avenue) in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 [2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. [1]

Contents

History

The First Congregational Church of Detroit was established on December 25, 1844. Two church buildings were built near the Detroit River. The third building was constructed at the present site in 1891, and was designed by architect John Lyman Faxon. An addition to the church, known as the Angel's Wing, was constructed in 1921 by Albert Kahn. [3]

Gaius Glenn Atkins served twice as minister of the church in the early 20th century.

Architecture

The church is designed in a blend of the Romanesque and Byzantine styles, [4] using rough-hewn, warm red limestone. The Woodward facade has a five-bay loggia, with a parapeted front gable. Above that are rounded windows with tracery framed by a rounded arch. The church also features a 120-foot campanile with many narrow arcades. The church is topped by an 8-foot copper figure of the Archangel Uriel. [5]

The church is patterned after churches found in Venice and Ravenna. The sanctuary, which resembles the lower church of St. Francis of Assisi, [4] boasts carved wood, ceiling portraits, rose windows and sumptuous colors. [3] The interior murals were designed and executed by Lyle Durgin, [6] completed in December, 1891. [7]

Living museum

The church offers exhibits about the historical and architectural aspects of the church, its buildings and activities. Visitors can go on self-guided tours of the historic facilities and buildings.

The church also hosts the Underground Railroad Living Museum, a storytelling simulation of the original Underground Railroad.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of metropolitan Detroit</span> Architecture style of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, USA

The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wright–Kay Building</span> Building

The Wright–Kay Building, originally known as the Schwankovsky Temple of Music, is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located at 1500 Woodward Avenue, at the corner of Woodward and John R. Street, in proximity to the Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District. The building was listed on the State of Michigan's Historical Register in 1980 as #P25241.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidney Badgley</span>

Sidney Rose Badgley was a prominent start-of-the-20th-century Canadian-born architect. He was active throughout the United States and Canada, with a significant body of work in Cleveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Baptist Church (Detroit, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The former First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church building located at 8601 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1909, it was designed by architect Guy J. Vinton in the Late Gothic Revival style. It is now the Peoples Community Church. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 3, 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan United Methodist Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Metropolitan United Methodist Church is a church located at 8000 Woodward Avenue in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It was completed in 1926, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1986. This church should not be confused with Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Washington, DC, which is often regarded as a National Church within the United States as it was specifically established by the General Conference to be a "representative presence of Methodism in the nation's capital".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Woodward Congregational Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The St. John's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a church located in Detroit, Michigan. It was built as the North Woodward Congregational Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church is a church located at 8501 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1911 in the Gothic Revival style, the architect was Sidney Badgley. It was used for some time as the Abyssinia Church of God in Christ. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Unitarian Church of Detroit</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The First Unitarian Church of Detroit was located at 2870 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. Built between 1889 and 1890, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was destroyed by fire on May 10, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religious Structures of Woodward Avenue Thematic Resource</span> United States historic place

The Religious Structures of Woodward Avenue Thematic Resource (TR) is a multiple property submission to the National Register of Historic Places which was approved on August 3, 1982. The structures are located on Woodward Avenue in the cities of Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Cass Community United Methodist Church is located at 3901 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1883 as the Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugar Hill Historic District (Detroit)</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Sugar Hill Historic District is a historic district in Detroit, Michigan. It contains 14 structures located along three streets: East Forest, Garfield, and East Canfield, between Woodward Avenue on the west and John R. on the east. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Unitarian Church (Somerville, Massachusetts)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The former First Unitarian Church is a historic church building at 130 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. The stone church was built in 1894 for a Unitarian congregation. It was designed by Hartwell & Richardson and is a good example of Richardsonian Romanesque design. The building presently (2022) houses the Mission Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University–Cultural Center Multiple Resource Area</span> United States historic place

The University–Cultural Center MRA is a pair of multiple property submissions to the National Register of Historic Places which were approved on April 29 and May 1, 1986. The structures included are all located in Midtown, near Woodward Avenue and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The two submissions are designated the University–Cultural Center MRA Phase I, containing five properties, and the University–Cultural Center MRA Phase II, containing three properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Financial District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Detroit Financial District is a United States historic district in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 2009, and was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of December 24, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Vincent de Paul Church (Pontiac, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, Convent, and School is a historic church located at 46408 Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1987 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Midtown Detroit</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided for many National Register properties and districts; these locations may be seen together in online maps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George D. Mason</span> American architect

George DeWitt Mason was an American architect who practiced in Detroit, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Center Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The New Center Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located on Woodward Avenue between Baltimore Street and Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyle Durgin</span> American artist

M. Lyle Durgin (1845-1904) was a 19th-century American artist from the U.S. state of Massachusetts, who specialized in portraiture and murals. A graduate of New Hampton Institute, New Hampshire, she studied art in Paris where she exhibited in the Salon. After returning to the US, she shared a studio with her sister, Harriet Thayer Durgin, in Copley Square, Boston. Durgin is remembered for designing and executing the murals at the First Congregational Church of Detroit, Michigan.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "First Congregational Church". Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  3. 1 2 First Congregational Church of Detroit Archived 2008-05-25 at the Wayback Machine History page
  4. 1 2 Tutag, Nola Huse, & Hamilton, Lucy (1987). Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit, p. 57. Wayne State University Press.
  5. First Congregational Church from Detroit1701
  6. "About Us - First Congregational Church of Detroit". First Congregational Church of Detroit. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  7. Willard & Livermore 1897, p. 265.

Bibliography