Help identify this architectural drawing.

[hamtown mike]

Hi Yessers.

A friend found this architectural drawing in an attic a few years ago. He asked for my help trying to identify the location.

The best I could come up with is "Somewhere along Woodward?"

It is stamped with Jerome Darling Architects lable

Apologies for the poor quality of the images. Not the best of cameras on my phone.

[dtrrman]

I would suggest Sanborn insurance maps as one possible solution

[MikeM]

Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian?

[hamtown mike]

The church in the drawing does bear a striking resemblance to Jeff Ave Pres. However the details are way off from the actual detail of today. Jeff Ave Pres is credited to Writ Rowland as the architect when he was with Smith, Hinchman and Grylls before heading out on his own. Perhaps this is a left over presentation board from a failed bid by Jerome Darling?

Is there still a High street in Detroit? I found a record in 1920 of Jerome Darling building/pulling permits for a 3 story mercantile which could be the building on the left.

[MikeM]

High Street became Vernor Highway which is now the service drive on the south side of the Fisher Freeway.

[kryptonite]

I'm pretty sure the church in the second drawing is Trinity Lutheran - on Gratiot. The school is the building on the right. Behind the church is the area that was the prior Stroh's brewery. And the bell tower was built to the north of the church instead of to the south, it filled in the gap that appears between the church and school in the drawing. The building to the west in the 4th photo may be a building that came down to make way for I-375??
http://historictrinity.org/

Trinity is a wonderful experience. The church has grown remarkably since 1980 when it was considering closure due to an aging and declining membership. Nowadays it's doing well with three services on Sundays and different activities throughout the year. At Christmas I believe it's the prettiest church in town.

[rb336]

My money is on little rock baptist church. Even the neighboring buildings look almost right

[hamtown mike]

The time frame [[cornerstone laid in 1929) and general look are close but Trinity Lutheran has Bernard C. Wetzel attached as the architect.

I've read that Jerome Darling was better known for his apartment and retail buildings so I think the answer may lie with the other building.

[jcole]

My money is on little rock baptist church. Even the neighboring buildings look almost right

Little Rock used to be owned by the Central Woodward Christian Church. From their website:

Central Woodward is a historic congregation that has ministered within metro Detroit since 1926, with roots that go back to 1878. Established as the merger of two downtown Detroit Disciples congregations in 1926, Central Woodward employed the Detroit firm George D. Mason and Company to design a Neo-Gothic building for the congregation. That building was completed in 1928 and still sits on what was then known as Piety Row in Detroit. The founding pastor of the church was Dr. Edgar DeWitt Jones. During Jones' long tenure as pastor of this congregation, he was an important figure in his denomination and in the Christian Community at large -- serving as one of the early Presidents of the Federal Council of Churches [[predecessor of the National Council of Churches).

[rb336]

Is it possible we have too many neo-gothic churches? The Episcopal diocese is similar, too, and was supposedly originally designed with a bell tower

[bartock]

My money is on little rock baptist church. Even the neighboring buildings look almost right

That's what I thought it looked like also.

[detroitbob]

It looks like Central Woodward [[Little Rock) but the office building to the left would be the site of Northern High, which predates the Church...may have been a proposal drawing that never went beyond the prospectus drawing phase.

[Lowell]

Little Rock? Close but no cigar. Compare the steeple / tower.

[Brock7]

Here's the architect anyways.

History of Michigan, Volume 3 1915
Harry Jerome Darling was born at Mason, Michigan, July 25, 1878, and during the early years of his life he lived with his parents at Mason, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D. C, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, Michigan. After being employed for about three years at Ann Arbor, he came to Detroit, and entered the employ of Spier & Rohns, architects, and later became associated with Joseph E. Mills, a prominent Detroit architect. In May, 1909, he opened an office in the Majestic building for the practice of architecture on his own account. Later he moved to the Chamber of Commerce building and now has his offices located at 928-929 of that building. An article published in the Detroit News Tribune, June 2, 1912, dealing with the growth and development of the apartment building in Detroit, mentions an apartment building of which Mr. Darling was the architect, as being one of the best examples of its kind, and shows a picture of the building with six others. Mr. Darling's practice has been largely with the erection of apartment buildings, store buildings, residences and factories.

The Michigan architect and engineer, Volume 2 May 1920

GARAGE

H. JEROME DARLING, Archt., Detroit. Prep, plans for garage Woodward Ave. 88x90. Est. cost $25,000. Brick, stone trim, steel, comp. roof, cone floors, steam heat, elec. Owner withheld, c/o Archt. Plans ready Apr. 25. Bids close May 10.

MERCANTILE BUILDING

H. JEROME DARLING, Archt., Detroit. Prep, plans for 5-story and basement mercantile building.. High Street. 26x114. Est. cost $75,000. Brick, stone trim, rein, cone, steel, comp. roof, cone, floors. steam heat, freight elevator, elec. Owner withheld, c/o Archt. Plans ready Apr. 15. Bids close 25.

STORE

H. JEROME DARLING, Archt., Detroit. Prep, plans for 1-story and basement, 5-store building, Woodward Ave. 82x56. Est. cost $35,000. Brick, stone trim, steel, comp. roof, wood and cone, floors, steam beat. elec. Owner, withheld, c/o Archt. Plans ready Apr. 25. Bids close May 10.

[kryptonite]

Maybe the drawings were for a church that was never built. Possibly this architect competed with others and did not get the contract?

There are many similarities between the drawings and several old Detroit churches: Little Rock Baptist, Jefferson Ave. Presbyterian, Trinity Lutheran, St. Paul Cathedral, etc.

I still suspect Trinity Lutheran, in the drawing doesn't the building to the right appear at an angle to the main church? That would reflect the current alignment of the Trinity church/school buildings with the church facing more south and the school facing more SE.

But the drawings do look much more like LIttle Rock. maybe this will be a permanent mystery.

[andrew.w]

If the church was never built [[at least as designed), the two story storefront is really the only location clue. Too bad it's probably gone today.

Based on the perspective, I would say that the storefront building is not on an angle. I think some of the fading lines are making it look slightly askew,

[detroitbob]

Is the illustration dated or signed?

[andrew.w]

I'm no car expert, but based on them and the architecture, I would say this was the 1930s, maybe the late 1920s

[andrew.w]

Is there still a High street in Detroit? I found a record in 1920 of Jerome Darling building/pulling permits for a 3 story mercantile which could be the building on the left.

Mike, I reread the "Michigan Architect and Engineer" record, and the mercantile is actually cited as 5 stories. The type is really bad, but when I zoom way in, it is definitely a 5. [[edit: Brock already sort of pointed this out).

[mccarch]

This is a very interesting problem.

1. It is an unusual drawing in that it shows two very different buildings [[a church and an apartment building) separated by a street. But maybe it's not the buildings that are important, but the street that separates them. If you look carefully, you can see that beyond the depth of the apartment building's lot, there is a gateway that announces a [[presumably) upper-class residential subdivision or street. Could this be a promotional drawing for the subdivision/street?

2. The street at the front of the drawing is the more "commercial" of the two streets, as the apartment building storefronts face on this street. The street in the middle of the drawing is perpendicular to the street at the front of the drawing. This rules out anything off Gratiot or Grand River, as those streets rarely have perpendicular intersections.

3. There are a number of right-angle intersections in Detroit that highlight the residential streets with "gateways": Virginia Park, Boston Blvd, Arden Park, and Farrand Park off Woodward, Lakewood off Kercheval, and Navahoe and Algonquin [[I think) south off East Jefferson. There are others, particularly on Dexter, Linwood and Hamilton. The relationship of the Farrand Park apartment building on the NE corner of Woodward and Farrand Park is very similar to this drawing [[but that apartment building is by Albert Kahn, I think).

4. No slur to Jerome Darling, but he's not a well known architect. If the drawing is not meant to show a street gateway, the next more likely design by Jerome Darling would be the apartment building. I think it's unlikely he designed the church - church design was a rather specialized field. If this is correct, the church probably was not "imagined" but actually existed. Identify the church and you'll identify the corner.

[detroitbob]

I think Darling was at one time associated with the George D. Mason firm...can anyone verify this?

[Brock7]

The 1915 bio above says he "entered the employ of Spier & Rohns, architects, and later became associated with Joseph E. Mills" before opening an office on his own in 1909.

Here's all the other mention of him I could find on the web.

The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922
In 1904 he came to Detroit and was engaged in architectural work until May, 1909, at which time he opened an office in the Majestic building for the practice of his profession, which profession he has continuously followed, but with offices now located in the Empire building, at the southeast corner of Washington and Clifford streets.

Historic Michigan, land of the Great lakes vol. 3 1928
Harry Jerome Darling, with offices in the First National Bank building, is known as one of the prominent architects of Detroit, and he is the inventor of several devices widely used in building construction.

Michigan manufacturer and financial record: Volume 46 1930
H. Jerome Darling, Detroit architect, is preparing sketches for a ten-unit store building, estimated cost $40,000.

Michigan Society of Architects Bulletin: Volume 25 - 1951
At one time associated with the late H. Jerome Darling, as H. Jerome Darling and C. Ora Walper, Architects, in Detroit.

[beachboy]

I'm pretty sure the church in the second drawing is Trinity Lutheran ...
http://historictrinity.org/
Trinity is a wonderful experience. The church has grown remarkably ...

And they have one of the six historic E.M. Skinner organs in Detroit [[the most of any city in the world), restored [[not rebuilt or revised) through the generosity of the congregation:

http://www.historictrinity.org/organ.html

The other EMS organs are at Jefferson Ave Presbyterian, Church of our Father, Scottish Rite Cathedral, Central Methodist, and St. Columba's [[IIRC, 56packman, gistok, or detroitbob pls. correct me if I'm wrong...) Wonderful instruments - great works of art - of which Detroiters should be very, very proud!

[Gistok]

Beachboy, my area of knowledge extends basically to theatres, so I defer any comments to 56packman and detroitbob...

However, when you mention Scottish Rite Cathedral.... are you referring to the 1,585 seat venue of that name within the Masonic Temple? If so, it's nice that it has one... and adds another "theatre" [[in the true sence that the Masonic's has no true religious use) to the count of Detroit performance spaces that still retain their organs. And I believe it's now call the Scottish Rite Theatre.

[detroitbob]

The Church of Our Father is long gone...[[if memory serves me it was down in the lower Cass corridor off of Cass Park) St. Columbia's organ is being relocated to another Episicopal church in Grosse Pointe Farms, St. Michael's. Scottish Rite is the smaller auditorium in the Masonic complex. I think SS. Matthew and Joseph Episcopal at Woodward and Holbrook also has a vintage Skinner, although some ill advised tonal changes happened over the years, I understood they were working on correcting this over the past few years. I also believe there was a Skinner at the former Episcopal Church at Grand River and West Grand Blvd...not sure if the organ is still installed or not.