Hi guys so I totally thought I posted this and it looks like it didn’t go through when I thought it had. So anyways, this is a place that I hold near and dear to my heart. It had a very important role in the history of Detroit that I am going to share with you. Also, I have recently gotten in touch with a Detroit Urbex god (at least in my book) so I will be updating much more with so many locations. And now here is the story of St. Agnes:
St. Agnes consists of a church, a school, a covenant, and a priest’s house. The pictures I am sharing with you are only that of the school and church. I tend to have rules about houses and don’t particularly like to go in them. Anyways, the site was picked out for this compound and construction on the school started in 1916 with construction on the covenant beginning a year later. The original church that was used in 1914 was too small and was outgrown very quickly. The church shown here started construction in 1922 and was completed in 1924. The church and school thrived for the next fifty years until 1967 which is when the historic Detroit race riots began only blocks away from the church (if you don’t know what I am talking about please inform yourself and look up the riots). Although the compound was spared physical damage, it would not be able to bounce back from the emotional damage. After the riots many people began to move out of Detroit and into the suburbs. The area around the church went into decline which forced the church to combine with another local church in 1989. This did little to help and the school was closed in 2000. The church met the same fate in 2006. In 2007, the Detroit Archdiocese removed the pews and stained glass windows. The church was sold to a congregation that did nothing with it. Vandals and scrappers had gotten in by 2009 and completely stripped the place of anything they deemed valuable. In 2012, the church was bought by a developer who tried to secure it to no avail. There are currently no plans for redevelopment that I am aware of at this time.
*In 1981, Mother Theresa came and spoke here to a full house. After she spoke, there was a reception of coffee and donuts that she insisted be donated to the homeless instead. Gotta love random history of Detroit facts. Enjoy xo.
Alice in Detroit 