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

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.


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.



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








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.