First Presbyterian Church [of South Lyon] - Identification Plaque
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S5280ft
N 42° 27.652 W 083° 39.007
17T E 282107 N 4704350
This waymark is for the small informational plaque on the front of the building. The church is located on the north side of 10 mile road, east of Lafayette (Pontiac Trail).
Waymark Code: WM1J99
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2007
Views: 48
From the State Historic Preservation Office website:
Narrative Description:
The First Presbyterian Church is a T-shaped church consists of a rectangular, front-gable auditorium built in 1883 with a side-gable wing added in 1899. The church, constructed with red brick walls and a fieldstone foundation, faces south. This structure has a front facade dominated by a partly projecting square tower with a pyramid-roof belfry topped with pinnacles on all four corners and a finial at the apex. The belfry has paired arched openings on all four sides. There is a small arched window below the belfry and above the front entrance, which is also arched with double door installed c. 1960. The front facade features a large central stained-glass window with a smaller stained-glass window on either side. The west facade has four stained-glass windows that appear to be the same size as the small windows on the front. All window openings on the south and west facades are arched with brickwork caps. The east facade, which presents a cross-gable wing, also has arched stained -glass windows with brick caps paired vertically with rectangular stained-glass windows. The rear, or north, facade is windowless. The 1883 church building was front-gabled with a projecting square-plan bell tower and spire centered on the front facade. The remodelling program completed in 1899 added the east wing, which is two stories in height, includes a chapel on the main floor and a kitchen and large dining room on the second floor. The original bell tower was replaced with a new off center one, creating a cloak room, and new stained-glass windows were installed.
Statement of Significance:
A Presbyterian Society was formed at "The Corners," which came to be known as South Lyon, in October 1831 under the leadership of Reverend E. Prince of Plymouth. According to the church history, there were fifteen charter members, three of whom were elected elders. Services were temporarily held in the home of one of the members until 1833 when a large schoolhouse was built on his farm. The Presbyterians shared the schoolhouse with the Methodists, who used it on alternate Sundays. At the same time the first minister/farmer, the Reverend Ira Olds, moved into the area from New York. He served as resident pastor for the next thirty-three years. The First Presbyterian Church of Lyon was organized in May of 1858, and in 1859 a frame church was constructed. That church served the membership until the new brick church was built in 1883. The 1859 church was eventually used by the Catholics and then moved to a farm east of Milford Road for a barn, where it remains today.
Historical Date: 01/01/1883
Historical Name: Reverend E. Prince, Reverend Ira Olds
Parking nearby?: yes
D/T ratings: 
website: [Web Link]
Registered Site #: Local Site #1932
Description: Not listed
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