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House of worship, Lafayette Park, since 1872

St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church

Photographed standing in 2008

St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church, Detroit Photo: Andrew Jameson at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1872
Style
Late Victorian
Standing
154 years

St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church has stood on Russell St. in Lafayette Park since 1872, 154 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church

The landmark St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church, on Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, 2008 Photo: Umdet, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 24, 2026. Nothing new at this address in the last two years.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

In 1872, as Detroit's lumber, stove and shipbuilding money went into brick and stone, St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church opened in Lafayette Park.

It was built in the Late Victorian style, and it still reads that way from the sidewalk.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1982.

Go see it at 2120 Russell St. Photos never get the scale right.

St. John's, St. Luke's Evangelical Church is a congregation of the United Church of Christ located at 2120 Russell Street in Detroit, Michigan.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1872 Built Late Victorian, Gothic Revival
  2. 1982 Listed on the National Register April 22, 1982
  3. 2026 Today 154 years and still standing

Where it is

2120 Russell St.

On this map

  1. St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church This place
  2. Wisner Confectionary Building 260 ft
  3. Trinity Lutheran Church 490 ft
  4. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Complex 490 ft
  5. Koenig Coal & Supply Co. Building 0.1 mi
  6. Goebel Brewery 0.2 mi
  7. Nellie Leland School 0.2 mi
  8. Mies van der Rohe Residential District, Lafayette Park 0.2 mi
  9. Eastern Market Historic District 0.2 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

More from Detroit in the 1870s

Around the block

It is in Lafayette Park. See the neighborhood's homes, pros and story.

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church, Detroit Photo: Andrew Jameson at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. The landmark St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church, on Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, 2008 Photo: Umdet, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.