Did You Know? Old Mariners Church

The once referenced “Maritime Sailers Cathedral” carries a big history for a small church.  

The Old Mariners church was founded in 1842 and currently stands as the second oldest church in the city of Detroit. The structure was designed by Calvin N Otis and was previously located on Woodward, just south of Jefferson Avenue. Back then, the church was a place where sailors could not only go and worship, but also sleep, wash up and eat. 

In 1954, the church moved to its current location at the foot of the Detroit Windsor Tunnel. The moving process only took months, and there was enough money left over from the relocation fund-raising effort to add stained glass windows where there wasn’t any. A Bell Tower was also installed on Dec. 15, 1957. 

The church has its prominence in local history, as it was the gathering point for a memorial dedicated to the Edmund Fitzgerald, a lake freighter that sunk in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. A bell is rung thirty times (29 for the crew and one for Gordon Lightfoot.) The church, as well as the Fitzgerald tragedy, has made its way into pop culture due to musician Gordon Lightfoot, who referenced the building as “Martimes Sailers Cathedral” in his song, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  

Even though the church is small, it continues to hold a mighty history in the Great Lakes region. 

Photos by Zach Balogh

Photos by Zach Balogh