The First Unitarian Church of Detroit was located at 2870

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which bisects th ...

in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. Built between 1889 and 1890, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1982. It was destroyed by fire on May 10, 2014.

History

The First Congregational Unitarian Society was incorporated on October 6, 1850. This church, their second, was dedicated in November 1890. The congregation used the church until 1931, when the widening of Woodward Avenue required a remodeling of the church. At that time, they worshiped with the First Universalist Church of Our Father, whose sanctuary on Cass Avenue had been built in 1916. This arrangement worked out so well that the two congregations merged in 1934 to form the Church of Our Father (Unitarian-Universalist), which later became the

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit The First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Detroit (also known as UU Detroit) is a historic church building at 4605 Cass Ave. in Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1916 and is attached to the historic Perry McAdow House. History The 1916 chur ...

. The First Unitarian building was then sold in 1937 to the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

denomination. The building went through other owners before finally being abandoned during the 2000s. It sat empty and in poor condition until destroyed by fire in 2014.

Architecture

First Unitarian Church of Detroit Stained Glass Windows

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

-style church built of red sandstone. After its remodeling during the 1936 widening of Woodward, it remained substantially as built. The gabled façade had a great expanse of masonry; a simple four-bay porch with a shed roof and stone Romanesque columns spanning the first floor. There was a two-story hip-roofed projection at the corner, and a side porch with stone piers covering a side entrance. Most of the original John La Farge stained glass windows that faced Woodward Avenue survive in the collection of the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

, which acquired the work in 1959.

References

External links

Detroit Blog
Pictures of the First Unitarian Church of Detroit

Photo gallery and history {{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Churches completed in 1889 19th-century Unitarian Universalist church buildings Romanesque Revival church buildings in Michigan Churches in Detroit 2014 fires in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit Religious organizations established in 1850 1850 establishments in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Buildings and structures demolished in 2014

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links