Woodward Avenue (M-1) - Central United Methodist Church - Detroit, Michigan. - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

The Church was Shortened by 28 feet, and the steeple moved, to allow Woodward Avenue to be widened.

Woodward Avenue (M-1) - The Automotive Heritage Trail, is Just 27 miles long. The trail can be driven in under 2 hours, but it took us 2 days to enjoy just a few of the attractions.

"If Broadway = Theater and Rodeo Drive = High Fashion and Jewelry, then Woodward = the Automobile. The Motor City, and in particular, Woodward Avenue, put the world on wheels. America's automobile heritage is represented along this byway in famed industrial complexes, office buildings, residential mansions, world-renowned museums, and cultural institutions." Text Source: (visit link)

"This is the church of the first Methodist congregation in Michigan. Indeed, I believe this is the oldest Protestant congregation in Michigan. It waqs founded in 1810. The British took control of Detroit from the French in autumn 1860 but there were few English setters. Primarily, Detroit was a lightly fortified military outpost with, typically, fewer than 100 British soldiers. Between 1760 and 1796 when the American replaced the British, no Church of England parish was establisherd in Detroit. Territorial Governor Lewis Cass approved the charter for Centraol Methodist in 1822, less than a century after John Wesley founded the Methodist reform movement in Savannah. In the early 1860s, this congregation had to make a decision about building a new church since their wooden structure at Woodward and State was razed by fire.

They selected Gordon Lloyd as their architect, an architect whose imprint in Detroit is still large because of the churches he built. Lloyd was born in England but raised in Sherbrooke, Quebec and then returned to England for his training. He traveled extensively in northern Europe, developing an appreciation of northern Gothic cathedrals before migrating to Detroit in 1858 where he quickly won commissions. Not far from Central Methodist is Christ Church on East Jefferson, a structure Lloyd designed just before designing the church you see pictured here. Lloyd eventually designed about three dozen church throughout the Midwest including the very attractive St. James Episcopal on Grosse Ile

Episcopalian congregations at this time had fixed ideas about the structure of a church, but Methodists were more flexible, so Lloyd could be imaginative when he designed this beautiful structure. He specialized in Gothic structures, so he built a light gray, rock-faced limestone church with dark stone trim. If you walk around this church and examine it, you will see the skills of Gordon Lloyd illustrate themselves almost a century and a half after he completed the building. You might note the impressive clock in the tower of the church. It has been in operation since 1867. You might also compare this Gothic church to the Gothic-influenced Fyfe Shoe Building directly across Woodward. The original stained glass windows in Central Methodist were imported from England, but they deteriorated so the congregation, in 1955, commissioned the Willet Studios of Philadelphia to replace the windows with new stained glass resembling windows found in the Gothic cathedrals of medieval England and France. All of the windows focus upon the life and teachings of Christ applied to contemporary issue, so the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations Building are included in the stained glass windows.

In 1936, Woodward Avenue was widened and the length of the church was cut by 28 feet. The steeple was moved 26 feet to the east. That is, the church was reduced in size and the steeple moved back from what had been Woodward." Text Source: (visit link)

Street address:
Woodward Ave. at E. Adams St.,
Detroit, MI USA
48201

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Woodward Avenue (M-1)

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