Mariner's Church
170 East Jefferson at the southeast corner of East Jefferson and Bates at the entrance to the tunnel to Canada and never out of the shadow of the Renaissance Center
This is one of the city's many spectacular churches
and one with a long history. John Anderson was assigned to Detroit in 1818
as a brevet lieutenant colonel with the U. S. Topographical engineers who
were assigned to explore and map the Michigan territory. His wife, Julia Ann
Anderson, arrived with him. By the mid-1840s, the Andersons had died. Julia
Ann Anderson and her sister, Charlotte Taylor, left their estates to found
an Episcopalian church to serve the spiritual needs of the many sailors who
came to the busy port of Detroit. The executors of the estate selected Calvin
N. Otis of Buffalo to design the church.
Otis selected coarse gray limestone for the structure with sandstone trim. Most of this stone came from the Lake Erie islands and attempts to secure stone from closer downriver sites proved futile. Mariners is the oldest stone church in Michigan and the second oldest continuously-operating church in the state. It is a rectangular, front-gabled Gothic Revival building with an attractive crenellated roofline. Substantial towers mark the four corners. The sharply sloping roof is supported by that quintessential 19th century engineering tool—an array of Howe trusses. The central rose windows display a mariner's wheel and compass. Another window shows Christ calming a tempest. Finding monies to support a church has always been a challenge. When built, the first floor was designed for shops. Indeed, Detroit's post office was located on the first floor of this church for some time in the pre-Civil War years.
When the massive building that became the Coleman
Young Municipal Building was erected in 1955, Mariner's Church was moved 900
feet to its present location. A bell tower was added at that time. This church
is now well known for its religious service and bell ceremony held each November
to mark the loss of 29 lives in the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald—the
last of the huge great lakes boats to be lost to the gales of November. Along
the Jefferson Avenue side, you will see Donald DeLue's impressive statue of
President Washington. There is also a Michigan Historical marker commemorating
the contributions of the U. S. Topographical engineers. Their Michigan offices
were established on this site in 1837.
Many people appreciate Mariner's church by driving along East Jefferson. A much better sense of the church's elegance and beauty may be gained by walking toward the church in the attractive promenade that links the church to Hart Plaza, especially on a sunny spring or summer day when the flowers are in bloom. The humble but beautiful church—built less than four decades after fire destroyed the city—contrasts with the soaring Renaissance Center towers that represent the city's attempt to come back from the fires of the 1967 riot.
Architectural style: Gothic Revival, aka Perpendicular
Gothic because of its Tudor arched windows that were frequently used in 15th
and 16th century English churches.
Architect: Calvin N. Otis
Builder: Hugh Moffat
Date of construction: 1849
Architect for bell tower added in 1955: Giffels and Rossett
Stained glass windows dating from 1955: J. and R. Lamb
Date of removal to present location: 1955
Michigan Registry of Historic Places: P25168, Listed October 23, 1957
Michigan Historic Marker: Placed: June 27, 1997
National Register of Historic Sites: Listed: March 11, 1971
Use in 2002: Same as in 1849 - Episcopalian Church
Photo: Ren Farley October, 2002