City of Lost Churches by Mike Boening
…Built new churches, leaving the old ones to succumb to nature.
One example of the urban blight and decay in Detroit can be seen in its vast array of abandoned churches. As the city became more racially integrated, white residents began their sprawl to Detroit’s outskirts starting in the 50s. This sprawl only worsened as time went on. As these ‘ex-Detroiters’ began colonizing the suburbs they also built new churches, leaving the old ones to succumb to nature. The needs necessary to keep many of these churches afloat were more than their human and financial resources could muster.
Below are photographs of The St. Agnes Church, built in 1924, and The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church, built in 1911 and redecorated in 1929.
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Mike Boening is a Metro Detroit based artist who calls himself a “Photographer at Large.” Finding and documenting images in the city of Detroit is his main focus, in more particular Urban Exploration. If not trying to document history you likely will find Mike covering an event for Detroit Metro Convention Bureau. His website, where contact information can be found, is here.