Mariners' Church
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Mariners' Church
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| Location | 170 East Jefferson Avenue Detroit, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 42°19′45″N 83°02′31″W / 42.3292°N 83.04200°WCoordinates: 42°19′45″N 83°02′31″W / 42.3292°N 83.04200°W |
| Built | 1849 |
| Architect | Calvin N. Otis; Hugh Moffat |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 71000428 |
| Added to NRHP | March 11, 1971 |
Mariners' Church of Detroit (Free and Independent) is a church with worship services adhering to Anglican liturgical traditions located at 170 East Jefferson Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1842 as a special mission to the maritime travelers of the Great Lakes and functioned as a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan until 1992, when the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled it was incorporated as an independent congregation. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The church is now part of the REC Diocese of Mid-America within the Anglican Church in North America.
The church grounds contain a bronze sculpture of George Washington wearing the apron of a master mason by Donald De Lue. The sculpture is a copy of the wax original created in 1959 and was installed in 1966.
The church was founded as a result of Julia Anderson's bequest of the lot on which her own mansion stood, at the corner of Woodbridge and Woodward streets. The completion of the Erie Canal increased shipping traffic in the area, and the seamen, Anderson felt, were in need of spiritual support and care. Mariners' was established in 1842 and incorporated in the state of Michigan in 1848; the present structure was consecrated the following year.
The original wood-frame church was sold to the congregation of Historic Trinity Lutheran Church for $200 when the current structure was completed. The Trinity congregation moved the building to Larned and Rivard streets.
Prior to the Civil War, the church was a stop on the Underground Railroad which black slaves followed North to Canada and freedom. In 1925, the church established Mariners' Inn, a shelter that now offers rehabilitation, counseling and vocational services for homeless substance abusers.
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