This old church stands in the small town of Elm Hall west of Alma. I am not sure what its story is, but I think it’s a beautiful old wooden church.
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“The Man on the Cross” by the renowned Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks. It is made of bronze 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick. It weighs seven tons, is twenty-eight feet tall from head to toe, and the outstretched arms span twenty-one feet. The figure of Christ is attached by thirteen bolts 30″ long and 2″ thick that were made when the figure was cast in Norway.
Fredericks wanted to portray Christ in a peaceful way. It was his dream to “give the face an expression of great peace and strength and offer encouragement to everyone who viewed the Cross”. Christ is symbolized just at the moment when He commends Himself to His Father. The sculptor received special permission from the Vatican to omit the crown of thorns and the wound on Jesus’ side.
Fredericks was commissioned to sculpt a 6-foot-tall crucifix, but instead designed this 28-foot, full-scale model, for a bronze to be placed at the Indian River Catholic Shrine in Indian River, Michigan. The bronze Corpus is mounted on a 55-foot-tall redwood cross. When erected in 1959, it was believed to be the largest crucifix in the world. Since then, a 65-foot crucifix was erected in the cemetery of St. Thomas Catholic Church near Bardstown, Kentucky however the Corpus on this work is only 14 feet in height.
The Indian River figure required only three years to complete, however the plaster model on which it was based required seven-years of restoration before being put on permanent display at the Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University. It suffered from neglect during the two-decades it was in storage at the foundry in Scandinavia after the bronze was cast. In his depiction, Fredericks chose not to depict the pain and suffering of Jesus and omitted the crown of thorns and the wound in the figure’s side. Instead, he shows the powerful body of Jesus at peace in the moment after death.
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I pass by this old church near US-23 often and one day I decided to take the backroads instead of the expressway. I came upon this beautiful old church north of Ann Arbor and standing next to it was a historical marker that reads:
Catholicism in Northfield Township dates from the early nineteenth century. In 1829 Father Patrick O’Kelly, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, was sent to the area to minister to the Irish Catholics who were settling in southwestern Michigan. The first parish church, a log structure, was completed on this site in 1831. Originally named St. Brigid, this is the oldest English-speaking Catholic parish in the state. The present Gothic Revival style church was completed and dedicated in 1878. The parish was renamed St. Patrick’s at that time. The rectory was completed in 1890. In 1917 the church and rectory were badly damaged by a cyclone; however, both were rebuilt in subsequent years. Serving the area for 150 years, the parish continues to reach out to the needs of the surrounding community.
Thank you to everyone who came out to see me yesterday in North Muskegon. It was a lot of fun and nice of the Walker Memorial Library to invite me.
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This old church stands in Tyrone Township south of Fenton. It was constructed in 1879. The historical marker next to it reads:
The Congregational Church of Tyrone grew out of the Methodist Episcopal church that organized here in 1845. Itinerant ministers called circuit riders served what was known as the Tyrone or Cranston Class. In 1874 the class split over where to build a new church. The faction that wanted a church in Tyrone Center reorganized in 1876 as Congregationalists under the leadership of the Reverend William H. Osborn of Hartland. Three years later the present church was built.
This country church, built by Congregationalists in 1879, contains architectural elements popular during the late Victorian era. The decorative bargeboard and finial on the vestibule peak and the gabled window caps add a touch of elegance to the otherwise modest building. By 1918 both the Methodist and Congregational churches in Tyrone faced financial difficulties and merged, forming a Presbyterian society in 1920. The new society continued to worship in this building.
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This old wooden church that stands in Muir has an interesting connection to an American President. The history marker next to it tells it unique story and reads:
In 1856 the Reverend Isaac Errett organized Disciples of Christ congregations in Montrose (present-day Muir) and Lyons. Membership grew quickly, and in 1861 this church was built to serve Muir. The board-and-batten Gothic Revival exterior masks a simple meetinghouse interior. In 1881 Errett was the principal speaker at the funeral of his friend President James A. Garfield, who visited Muir in 1862. The Muir Church of Christ is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
It is amazing the things you can learn by reading historical markers.
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This old brick church stands among the farm fields between Freeland and Bay City. A few modern houses and this old church are all that stand in the area of the old town of Amelith. Frederick Koch purchased two thousand acres of the former Saginaw Bay Chippewa Reserve at $1.25 an acre. In 1851 the first settlers arrived from the Bavarian town of Tosstel. In 1894 the town was given a post office and at one time the town included a coal mine, and a cheese factory, along with stores, mills, and saloons. By 1900 the mine had closed and immigration had ceased and the post office closed in 1904.
A historical mark proudly was proudly erected in front of the historic church and reads:
German missionary Pastor Ferdinand Sievers organized St. John Church in June 1852 to serve a colony of German migrants, some fleeing the turmoil that followed the European revolutions of 1848. Initially, the church met in a log cabin that once housed recent arrivals to the colony of Amelith. In 1870 a wood-frame Gothic style church was built. The present structure was completed in 1912. Schools run by the church began in 1853 with instruction in German surviving until World War I. Some church services continued in German until 1979. During World War II, German prisoners housed at Freeland Camp were ministered to by St. John Lutheran. An addition to the church was completed in 1997.
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I saw this old church in Portland. I looks as if it has been a long time since it has seen a Sunday morning service or a wedding. I think it still is a beautiful old church though.
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Michigan has several historic churches. Some are enormous gothic style churches with huge stained glass windows and tall steeples that reach towards heaven. Some are smaller wooden churches in rural northern Michigan where they proudly sit among nature’s beauty. I have seen many churches on my travels around the state but not many of them surprise me like this little white chapel in South Lyon. It stands in the Historic Village Park along with an old schoolhouse and the witches hat depot. ( more on that in a future post ). I stopped to see the depot but was taken back by the proud little standing quietly nearby. I took a few pics then walked up to see what was written on the plaque near the front doors.
To my surprise, I read that the chapel is a Sears and Roebuck mail-order portable chapel. I was aware that Sears sold kit homes but not chapels. It makes sense now that I think about it since it is basically a house with a steeple. I guess it gives new meaning to “House of worship.” The chapel was built on East Liberty Street in 1930 and then moved to the Historic Village in 2000.
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I was traveling through southern Michigan and I went through the town of Girard. I saw this old building which I can only assume was a church. The stained glass above the door prominently displays the date 1876. A hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I can only imagine what the town was like back then.
As with most of the places I visit I did a little research to find out some history of the town and as usual I learned something new. The town was named after Stephen Girard. The fourth wealthiest person in United States history. Born in 1750 in France he was a sea captain transporting good between France and the port of New Orleans. In 1776 the British forced his ship into the port of Philadelphia where he settled there as a merchant. He eventually worked his way up to purchasing the First Bank of the United States. Towards the end of the war of 1812, when the financial credit of the U.S. government was at its lowest, Girard placed nearly all of his resources at the disposal of the government and underwrote up to 95 percent of the war loan issued, which enabled the United States to carry on with the war.
Girard was struck by a horse and carriage and died in 1831. At the time of his death, Girard was the wealthiest man in America and he bequeathed nearly his entire fortune to charitable and municipal institutions of Philadelphia and New Orleans. It including an endowment for establishing a boarding school for “poor, male, white orphans” in Philadelphia, primarily those who were the children of coal miners, which opened as the Girard College in 1848.
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I saw this little chapel a few miles southeast of Fife Lake. I could not find any info about this small church other than the sign on the front that reads. Springfield Chapel 1900-2007.
Across the road from this little church is a large cemetery. It is in this cemetery that Mary McKnight the Strychnine Saint’s victims are buried. You can read my post about it HERE
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