Church Archives - Lost In Michigan

St Andrews Cathedral in Grand Rapids

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

St. Andrew’s history traces its beginning to the founding of St. Mary’s Church by the Rev. Frederic Baraga. He built a small church, rectory and school on the west bank of the Grand River and the people who attended the church were Native Americans. The Rev. Andreas Viszoczky was named the parish’s first pastor two years later. After the Native Americans left and the town of Grand Rapids grew, Father Viszoczky built a new church on Monroe Street which he named St. Andrew.

The church building was constructed of Grand River limestone and completed in 1850. Grand Rapids continued to grow as did the parish and a new church was soon needed. In 1875 the present church was started on Sheldon Boulevard and completed a year later. On May 19, 1882 Pope Leo XIII established the Diocese of Grand Rapids. The diocese’s first bishop Henry J. Richter chose Saint Andrew’s as his cathedral and was consecrated in it on April 22, 1883. Lightning struck the cathedral in 1901 and a fire destroyed part of the church building. It was rebuilt and expanded. Some of the wooden beams above the ceiling still show the charred marks from the fire.

A television studio was created in the cathedral in the 1950s to televise a weekly Sunday Mass. The cameras have been updated in the 21st century to provide for digital broadcasts. Another expansion of the cathedral facilities occurred from 1961-1963. The St. Ambrose Chapel wing was added at that time and Maple Street from Sheldon to Division was closed and a green space created. A major renovation of the cathedral in 1979-1980 brought the altar forward into the congregation and a vesting and gathering area was created. Another major renovation from 1997-2000 created a baptismal pool and refurbished the stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross. The current pipe organ was installed in 2002. The front entrance of the cathedral was remodeled in 2009 and the Piazza Secchia was laid. It is patterned after the piazza created by Michelangelo on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. (info from Wikipedia)

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Trinity Episcopal Church in Caro – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Michigan Historical Markers .

I like old wooden churches. Sometime the paint is flaking off, but it seems real, many older churches were covered in plastic vinyl siding, I know its “maintenance free”, but it just comes off a machine somewhere and stuck on, wood is natural, and came from a tree that was grown with the sunlight from heaven and watered with Gods love. Protecting the wood, is paint applied from a brush with human hands. I also like that you can still see the corner stone laid in 1881 A.D.

The historical marker reads

“This skillfully designed board and batten Gothic Revival church, first served local Episcopalians in 1880. The congregation had been formed in 1871, the year the town was incorporated. During the 1870s Caro grew to be a major commerce center for the Thumb Area. By the 1920s, however, church membership dropped and the building was sold to the Nazarenes. In 1974 preservationists saved the church from demolition.”

Methodist Episcopal Church in Caseville – Historical Marker

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Michigan Historical Markers .

In 1868 the Reverend Manasseh Hickey and twelve settlers organized a Methodist Episcopal Church in Caseville. Services were held in a schoolhouse until the present church was built. Upon its dedication on November 15, 1874, the Gothic-inspired structure, with its 70-foot-high steeple, became a focal point for the community. Local contractor William Ormiston built the church, which contains stained-glass windows by McFadden and Reed of New York City. In 1907 a basement was excavated, and in 1940 the memorial windows were installed Over the years the steeple, which provided a landmark for Saginaw Bay boaters, was racked by structural problems and lightning, and had to be continually repaired. In 1974 the spire was replaced with a duplicate of the original.

Methodist Episcopal Church in Caseville

St. Stephens In Hamburg – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Michigan Historical Markers .

St Stephens in Hamburg Michigan, one of the oldest churches in Michigan.

This building is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in Michigan. St. Stephen’s parish was organized in 1844, and construction of the church began almost immediately. Hiram Raymond of Hamburg was the contractor, and building funds were solicited in the East and in Europe. Donations were received from Hamburg, Germany, the native city of some of the parishioners. The clean delicate lines of the church and the interesting tower make this one of the state’s most intriguing churches.

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First Presbytiran Church in Bay City

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Michigan Historical Markers .

Michigan Historical Marker

First Presbyterian Church in Bay City

In 1848, James G. Birney and his wife led Bay City’s earliest Presbyterian services in a schoolhouse. Birney twice ran unsuccessfully for president of the U.S. on the antislavery ticket. The Reverend Lucius Root organized the First Presbyterian Church of Lower Saginaw on September 5, 1856. Services continued to be held in the schoolhouse and other public buildings until the first church was built in 1863. In 1886 church elder Alexander Folsom donated $50,000 for the founding of a college in “northern” Michigan. His donation funded the organization of Alma College. In 1906 the college established the J. Ambrose Wight Memorial scholarship fund in honor of First Presbyterian’s minister.

In 1884 the Reverend J. Ambrose Wight challenged the members of the First Presbyterian Church to “go forward and build a church that will be a lasting gift to the future.” The Reverend Wight (1811 – 1889) feared that Bay City’s prosperity, gained through the lumber and salt industries, would not last. When the church was dedicated on June 4, 1893, the Bay City Times-Press declared it a “Magnificent Temple.” Like the City Hall, which was build four years later, the Ionia sandstone church was designed in the Richardsonian style by local architects Pratt and Koeppe, and reflects Bay City’s wealth at that time. The bell, cast in 1866, served as a public timepiece and tolled three times daily.

First Presbyterian Church 805 Center Ave Bay City Michigan