Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church

Last updated
Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
Tushiyah United Hebrew School-Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church 1.jpg
Building before restoration as the Kirby Center Lofts
Location609 East Kirby Street
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates 42°21′48″N83°3′32″W / 42.36333°N 83.05889°W / 42.36333; -83.05889 Coordinates: 42°21′48″N83°3′32″W / 42.36333°N 83.05889°W / 42.36333; -83.05889
Built1922
ArchitectIsadore M. Lewis. [1]
NRHP reference No. 11000616 [2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 6, 2011

The Tushiyah United Hebrew School, later known as the Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, is an educational building located at 609 East Kirby Street in Detroit, Michigan. This building, an important work of architect Isadore M. Lewis, was constructed as the Tushiyah United Hebrew School and served as the headquarters of the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit. It later served as the Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, the first mainline African-American Methodist Episcopal church in Detroit. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. [2]

Contents

The building now houses the Kirby Center Lofts. [3]

Tushiyah United Hebrew School

In the early 1920s, the number of people of Detroit increased dramatically, and with it, the city's Jewish population also grew. [1] The new wave of Jewish arrivals, particularly those emigrating from Eastern Europe, spread north along what was then the Hastings Street corridor (the current location of I-75). Between 1919 and 1924, the new population built a series of Talmud Torah schools, which emphasized community-based education. The locations of these schools spread northward along Hastings Street, following the Jewish population. [1]

The Tushiyah United Hebrew School, built in 1922 on Kirby and St. Antoine, was one of these schools. Also known as the Kirby Center, it was constructed as the headquarters of the United Hebrew Schools. The building contained classrooms for 1500 students and an auditorium for 2000 people. It served not only as a school for children, but also hosted adult education classes and community group functions. [1]

The school was designed by Isadore M. Lewis, a Jewish architect who designed a wide array of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings, primarily for Jewish clients. Lewis was born in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1888, and in 1916 moved to Detroit to open his own architectural firm. He practiced in Detroit until at least 1960, and died in 1968. [1]

As the 1920s wound down, the Jewish population began shifting northward and westward away from the Tushiyah United Hebrew School, building homes and schools in the Dexter-Davidson neighborhood. New African-American residents began moving into the Hastings Street neighborhood as the earlier Jewish residents moved out. The shift in population, combined with the decline in popularity of the Talmud Torah schools, lead to the closure of the Tushiyah United Hebrew School in 1929. [1]

Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church

In 1929, after the closure of the school, the building was sold to the Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. The Scott Memorial ME church was founded in 1909; it was the first African-American Methodist Episcopal congregation in the city. The congregation started small, meeting in homes and storefronts and sharing a pastor with a congregation in Toledo, Ohio. In 1914, the church constructed its first building. The congregation continued to grow, and by 1924, Scott was planning on the construction of a second building. The church instead purchased the Tushiyah United Hebrew School in 1929, presumably because the cost, $92,500, was less than that for a new building. [1]

The congregation worked hard to retire the mortgage, and by 1943, the building was paid off. This freed funding for building improvements, and the congregation put in new pews and a new roof in 1943, and remodeled part of the first floor into a youth center in 1948. [1]

Scott Memorial was instrumental in the eventual unification of the white and African-American Methodist Episcopal churches. In 1957, Scott Memorial co-hosted an inter-racial leadership conference with the white Detroit Metropolitan Methodist Church, featuring an address by Thurgood Marshall, then an attorney for the NAACP. [1]

However, the Scott Memorial ME church continued to grow, with over 2000 members in the mid-1960s. In 1968, the congregation began once more to look for a larger building. In 1970, the predominantly white Grace United Methodist Church merged with another congregation and offered their building, located on West Boston, to Scott Memorial for $1.00. Scott Memorial accepted the offer, and moved from the Kirby building. [1]

In 1984, Scott Memorial sold the Kirby building to the Wild Life Field and Stream Club. In 1997, the building was sold again to the Most Worshipful Unity Grand Lodge of Michigan, Ancient and Accepted Masons. This organization owned the building as of 2011, but planned to sell it to a developer for conversion into apartments. [1] The building was sold, and conversion into loft space was underway by 2015. [4] Renovation was completed in 2016, and as of 2018, the building housed 3 two-bedroom, 21 one-bedroom and 2 studio apartments. [3]

Description

Tushiyah United Hebrew School-Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church 2.jpg

The Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church is a two-story commercial-style building with a concrete foundation, masonry walls, and steel framing. The building is clad with tan brick, and features decorative brickwork with cast stone trim, medallions, and reliefs. [1]

The original building was constructed in an L-shape, 102 feet by 134 feet. An arched roof, obscured by the parapet walls, covers the main section while the east-west section of the building has a flat roof. A single-story addition of concrete block and brick was built in 1950 across the rear, making a C-shape. [1]

The front facade, facing Kirby Street, has five bays. The center bay has four piers with limestone bands and an urn at the top. Each floor has a pair of one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms. The bay to the left of the center contains the entrance, with two aluminum and glass doors. Two one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms hang on the second floor, surmounted by a weathered plaque reading "Tushiyah United Hebrew Schools of Detroit." The parapet wall has a brick relief in the center. The bay to the right of the center is identical to the entrance bay, but with two one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms on the first floor in place of the entrance doors. The two end bays have two pairs of one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms on each floor. A classical metal cornice once ran the width of the facade, but has been removed. [1]

The side facade facing St. Antoine also has five bays: a wide center bay with five pairs of one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms, two flanking bays with three pairs of one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms, and two end bays with two pairs of one-over-one double-hung windows with transoms. Brick piers with limestone banding separate the windows. The elevations that do not face the street are red brick with limestone sills, pierced by similar one-over-one double-hung windows. [1]

Inside the building, the main entrance has a white tile floor containing green tiles spelling, "Kirby Center" and green-and-yellow tile wainscoting. The interior hallways have terrazzo floors, plaster walls, and acoustic ceiling tile. Classrooms open onto the hall through wood-and-glass doors with transoms; many rooms retain the original wood floors, wood trim, and plaster walls. A dining hall on the first floor is not original. An auditorium and associated coat room, bar area, and restrooms are on the second floor. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Wesley Methodist Church, Singapore Church in Singapore

Wesley Methodist Church is the oldest Methodist church in Singapore. It is the second Methodist Church to be built in Singapore after the Methodist Episcopal Church at Coleman Street which subsequently became a school hall. It is located in Fort Canning Hill.

Theodore Levin United States Courthouse

The Theodore Levin United States Courthouse is a large high-rise courthouse and office building located at 231 West Lafayette Boulevard in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The structure occupies an entire block, girdled by Shelby Street (east), Washington Boulevard (west), West Fort Street (south), and West Lafayette Boulevard (north). The building is named after the late Theodore Levin, a lawyer and United States District Court judge.

First United Methodist Church (Highland Park, Michigan) United States historic place

The Soul Harvest Ministries is located at 16300 Woodward Avenue in Highland Park, Michigan. It was built in 1916 as the First United Methodist Church and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Sugar Hill Historic District (Detroit) United States historic place

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.

Cass Park Historic District United States historic place

The Cass Park Historic District is a historic district in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, consisting of 25 buildings along the streets of Temple, Ledyard, and 2nd, surrounding Cass Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and designated a city of Detroit historic district in 2016.

Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District United States historic place

The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a historic district located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

St. Peters Episcopal Church (Peekskill, New York)

St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Peekskill, New York, United States, is located on the north edge of the city's downtown. It is a three-building complex of stone Late Gothic Revival buildings on a half-acre dating to the late 19th century and added onto at successive later dates.

Walden United Methodist Church

The Historic Walden United Methodist Church is located on West Main Street in Walden, New York, United States. It was desanctified in 2013 and sold by the congregation on November 24, 2014. The current location is at 1206 New York State Route 52, Walden, New York, United States. Ground was broken on a new House of Worship in September 2019 and is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2020.

Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse United States historic place

The Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse is a former commercial warehouse building located at 882 Oakman Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It is now known as the NSO Bell Building.

Emmaus United Methodist Church

Emmaus United Methodist Church, originally built as Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, two of five names it has gone by in its existence, is located at Morris and West Lawrence streets in Albany, New York, United States. It is a brick Collegiate Gothic building constructed in the early 20th century. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

St Johns Church, High Legh Church in Cheshire, UK

St John's Church is located in the village of High Legh, Cheshire, England, and is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Knutsford, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester.

Bethel A.M.E. Church (Indianapolis, Indiana) United States historic place

The Bethel A.M.E. Church, known in its early years as Indianapolis Station or the Vermont Street Church, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized in 1836, it is the city's oldest African-American congregation. The three-story church on West Vermont Street dates to 1869 and was added to the National Register in 1991. The surrounding neighborhood, once the heart of downtown Indianapolis's African American community, significantly changed with post-World War II urban development that included new hotels, apartments, office space, museums, and the Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis campus. In 2016 the congregation sold their deteriorating church, which will be used in a future commercial development. The congregation built a new worship center at 6417 Zionsville Road in Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana.

Ralli Hall

Ralli Hall is a community centre, events venue, theatre stage, business hub and impressive main hall in Hove, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1913 as a memorial to Stephen Ralli, a member of a wealthy Greek family who had donated money to many causes throughout Brighton and Hove, it was used for about 60 years as a church hall linked to Hove's parish church. The Brighton & Hove Jewish community subsequently bought it, and in 1976 it came back into use as a community and social centre for Jewish and other groups. The Wrenaissance-style brick structure occupies a prominent corner site in a conservation area and provides a visual contrast to the older villas around it. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Iron Mountain Central Historic District United States historic place

The Iron Mountain Central Historic District is a historic district, broadly located between Fleshiem and C Streets and between Iron Mountain and Stockbridge Avenues in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The district covers the city's central business district and adjacent areas. It is primarily commercial, but also contains the historic county courthouse complex, and school, library, and church buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Graceville Uniting Church

Graceville Uniting Church is a heritage-listed churchyard at 215 Oxley Road, Graceville, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed and built by Walter Taylor from 1917 to 1951. It was previously known as Graceville Methodist Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 September 1999.

Goshen Historic District (Goshen, Indiana) United States historic place

Goshen Historic District is a national historic district located at Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana. The district encompasses 751 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in the central business district and surrounding residential sections of Goshen. The town was developed between about 1840 and 1930, and includes notable examples of Italianate and Queen Anne style architecture. Located with in the district are the separately listed Elkhart County Courthouse and Goshen Carnegie Public Library. Other notable buildings include the Kindy Block (1881), Central Block (1882), Spohn Building (1909), Harper Block (1888), Noble Building, Jefferson Theater (1907), General Baptist Church (1859), First Methodist Church (1874), and St. James Episcopal Church (1862).

First Congregational Church of Albany

The First Congregational Church of Albany, also known as The Ray Palmer Memorial, is located on Quail Street in the Woodlawn section of Albany, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Colonial Revival architectural style built in the 1910s and expanded half a century later. In 2014 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

New Center Commercial Historic District United States historic place

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.

Starkweather School United States historic place

Starkweather School is an educational building located at 550 North Holbrook Street in Plymouth, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. It is the only school from its time still extant in Plymouth, and the only school in Plymouth designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham, who designed numerous schools for the Detroit school district.

Temora Post Office

Temora Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 173 Hoskins Street, Temora, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Staff Comments, Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church" (PDF). Michigan State Historic Preservation Office.
  2. 1 2 "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/06/11 Through 9/09/11". National Park Service. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Kirby Center Lofts, 609 E. Kirby". City Center Detroit. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ Paul Beshouri (Jan 20, 2015). "Residential Rehab Heats Up Inside a Vacant Hebrew School". Curbed Detroit. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.