Summary
St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church was a Roman Catholic church located at 2356 Vermont Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was also known as St. Boniface-St. Vincent Roman Catholic Church. The church was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1983[3] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989,[1] but was subsequently demolished in 1996.[4] The church was removed from the NRHP in 2022.[2][5]
St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church, c. 1884 | |
 Interactive map | |
| Location | 2356 Vermont Avenue Detroit, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°19′57″N 83°4′26″W / 42.33250°N 83.07389°W |
| Built | 1882 |
| Architect | Scott, William & Co.; Wuestewald, Caspar |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| Demolished | November 1996 |
| NRHP reference No. | 89000487[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 09, 1989 |
| Designated MSHS | March 23, 1983[3] |
| Removed from NRHP | August 8, 2022[2] |
History and significance edit
The German Catholic citizens of Detroit began moving to the west side in the 1860s, particularly along the Michigan Avenue corridor.[3] In 1867, Bishop Casper Borgess created St. Boniface parish to serve the German population on the west side. In 1873, a two-story, red brick Italianate rectory building was built for the parish at a cost of $6,000.[3] A stone church building was planned by the prominent local architect William M. Scott, and construction was completed in 1883 at a cost of $30,000.[3]
The parish was closed in 1989,[6] and the building was demolished in 1996.[7][5]
Description edit
St. Boniface Church was an eclectic example of Romanesque Revival and Ruskinian Gothic architecture. It was built in a cruciform shape from red brick and cream-painted wood, and featured a high nave roof, steeply gabled stone entry arches, and a central pavilion with recessed round arches.[3] The church had a square, louvered bell tower with an octagonal metal roof. The side walls were supported by heavy, stone-embellished buttresses.[3] The rectory was a two-story Italianate stone building, painted black. It had a modified hip-roof with cross-gabled dormers and a bracketed corniceline, an open gabled portico, and rectangular and round arch window enframements.[3]
Gallery edit
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St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church, c. 1910 -
St. Boniface School, c. 1910 -
Lot where St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church once stood
References edit
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b "Weekly List 2022 08 12". National Park Service.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Saint Boniface Roman Catholic Church from the state of Michigan
- ^ "St. Boniface (Demolished)". City of Detroit.
- ^ a b Brian Murphy (November 14, 1996). "Landmark Tumbles". Detroit Free Press.
- ^ Closed Parishes from the Archdiocese of Detroit
- ^ Roman Godzak, Catholic Churches of Detroit, Arcadia Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7385-3235-5, p. 102
