Inside Woodward Presbyterian / Abyssinia Church

Over a period of two weeks in the summer of 2009 I had the opportunity to photograph the historic Woodward Presbyterian church.

Located at 8501 Woodward Avenue, the church is - to me, at least - one of the grandest, most architecturally significant buildings in Detroit. I shot for 16 hours the first day inside; 10 hours the next day, and on average five hours per visit after that. It wasn't enough. No amount of time would be - there is just too much to see.

For the full gallery and the rest of the pictures, see the article at detroiturbex.com

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/100.jpg

The church today, as seen from north Woodward Avenue.

Construction:

Planning for what would become the Woodward Presbyterian Church started as early as 1907, in a series of meetings held in the home of a parishioner. It was decided that a new church would need to be built to accommodate the growing Presbyterian congregation of Detroit. Committees were formed, the property on Woodward was chosen, and the Reverend Sherman L. Divine was installed by unanimous vote of the parishioners. The cornerstone was laid on January 1st, 1910.
Inside the cornerstone they put a bible, copies of various church documents, a copy of The Detroit Free Press from December 31st 1909, and newly-minted coins of 1910.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/104.jpg


Construction of the Sidney Bagely-designed building took nearly a year and a half, with a total cost of around $100,000. The land on which the church was built and the pipe organ were donated by Mrs. Tracy McGregor.


http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/101.jpg

The completed church, circa 1911. Sourced from the Ohio Architecture and Builder's Digest.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/103.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/105.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/106.jpg


The interim years have not been so kind, however. At some point the church was sold, and later changed names to Abyssinia Church. Unfortunately, this is where the trail of details dries up.

Today

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/107.jpg

The sanctuary, from the upper balcony.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/108.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/109.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/110.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/111.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/112.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/113.jpg

Off the main sanctuary is an axillary hall

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/114.jpg

The two are separated by a wooden partition that can be raised or lowered.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/115.jpg

To the rear of the building are offices...

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/116.jpg

Classrooms...

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/117.jpg

A grand piano...

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/118.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/119.jpg

Nurseries...

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/120.jpg

The view from the altar.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/121.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/122.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/123.jpg

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/124.jpg

The skylight over the sanctuary

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/125.jpg

One of the more dazzling sights was the massive pipe organ.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/126.jpg

Kitchen and dining hall beneath the sanctuary.

http://detroiturbex.com/dycontent/curvy/127.jpg

Woodward Presbyterian's future is uncertain: shortly after these pictures were taken, I happened upon a group of parishioners having a service in front of the church. They later explained that they were trying to purchase the church from the bank that had foreclosed upon it with the hope of reopening it.

Within the last few months cleanup work has began, and according to friends of mine who have spoken with workers, the building is to be turned into a homeless shelter. Regrettably, the pipe organ has been completely torn out.

I haven't been back to WPC since these pictures were taken. The new owner has taken steps to secure the location, and I feel strongly about not breaking an entering. It is my hope that the new owner at least stabilizes the building and arrests the decay; a full restoration would be ideal, but unlikely given the potential cost.

Please share any experiences or news you might have of this fine location. If there is interest, I'll start a series on the churches of Woodward avenue.

For the full gallery and more details, see the article at detroiturbex.com

Thanks so much for sharing these photos. The interior must have been stunning when originally completed.

I'm always intrigued with church buildings. Never had the opportunity to visit WPC/Abyssinia although I've shot the exterior, including the carved name over the front door.

The correct spelling of the architect's name is Sidney Badgley.

Thanks for sharing these. For a Detroit building, it appears to have been pretty well secured, at least as of the time that you took these shots. I really like your shots, and for whatever reason, I particularly like the one of the skylight. I am sure wide-angle lenses come in handy in these buildings.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cman710

Thanks for sharing these. For a Detroit building, it appears to have been pretty well secured, at least as of the time that you took these shots. I really like your shots, and for whatever reason, I particularly like the one of the skylight. I am sure wide-angle lenses come in handy in these buildings.

---

Security was iffy back then, but seems to have gotten better of late. The last pictures I've seen of it look like - though I can't be sure - they were taken while the workers were inside. I know they have let a few people in.

I am stunned and speechless. I have seen this church a hundred times but never knew the beauty that it held and still holds.

I cannot thank you enough for sharing these photos with us.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DetroitSTAR

I am stunned and speechless. I have seen this church a hundred times but never knew the beauty that it held and still holds.

I cannot thank you enough for sharing these photos with us.

---

I agree with Detroit Star...I spent about 2 hours on your website last night looking at all the pics, I especially like the ones that are overlapped to show then and now
great work !

Your pictures are absolutely breathtaking, as usual. Do you know what happened to the pipe organ when they took it out?

Architecturally amazing! Thank you for sharing. I would love it if you did a series on Woodward churches.

Detroit is full of buried treasures.

Great work as usual Detroiturbex. Thanks for sharing!

Amazing work, as always, Urbex.
Sadly, between the time you were in there and I was in there, the church has suffered a lot more damage/scrapping/vandalism. For instance, there are still organ pipes in your shots. When I went about two weeks ago, every last one was gone. The kitchen had been ransacked, as had the playroom.
Some of my [[albeit far more inferior quality) shots from two weeks ago:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=61f09359b9

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Amazing work, as always, Urbex.
Sadly, between the time you were in there and I was in there, the church has suffered a lot more damage/scrapping/vandalism. For instance, there are still organ pipes in your shots. When I went about two weeks ago, every last one was gone. The kitchen had been ransacked, as had the playroom.
Some of my [[albeit far more inferior quality) shots from two weeks ago:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=61f09359b9

---

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
BoD, it's disappointing to see those pictures, but thanks for posting them. I'm going to go back this weekend and see if I can speak with someone. Two friends have told me that they saw organ pipes in the dumpster, but I'll have to look through my pictures.

The organ was a gift of Mrs. Tracy McGregor, and was made by the Tellers Organ Company of Erie, PA.

Much of the information I got about the church was from the 50th anniversary booklet that was published. I have some of the pages scanned and pdf'd if there is any interest.

I has a really haunted quality to it. I'm wondering what kind of movie could be filmed in such a unique space. It would be difficult to create a set like that from scratch.

I have driven or been bussed past that church 100's of times and had no awareness of the unique space within. This is one of a number of amazing churches in the city. [[See the now closed St. John Cantius.) I hope it can be restored, but even in its decay it is striking.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

[IN 2010 there were rumors of renovation -anything happen?

It was used as a movie set a year ago; details on the OP's website:

http://detroiturbex.com/content/churches/index.html

Not sure what's happened in the last year.