Skip to content
Rebuild Detroit

Popular in Metro Detroit

Call (888) 471-3135

House of worship, Piety Hill, since 1911

Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church

Photographed standing in 2009

The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, that has been listed on the National..., 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1911
Style
English Gothic
Standing
115 years

Designed by Badgley & Nicklas and Sidney Badgley

Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church has stood on Woodward Ave. in Piety Hill since 1911, 115 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of Woodward Avenue Presbyterian 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
Akron Plan Sunday School room of the Woodward Presbyterian Church, separated from the main sanctuary by a sliding wood..., 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The main sanctuary of the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church, view from east balcony, highlighting the curved pews and..., 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing, closed

  • Closed Source: Historic Detroit

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 1911, in the years Detroit became the Motor City and built like it meant to stay on top, Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church opened in Piety Hill.

Sidney Badgley and Badgley & Nicklas drew the plans, working in English Gothic.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1982.

Its doors are closed for now, but the building still stands.

Next time you are nearby, stop at 8501 Woodward Ave and look up.

The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church is a church located at 8501 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1911 in the Gothic Revival style, the architect was Sidney Badgley. It was used for some time as the Abyssinia Church of God in Christ.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1911 Built Designed by Badgley & Nicklas and Sidney Badgley
  2. 1982 Listed on the National Register August 3, 1982
  3. 2005 Closed
  4. 2026 Today Standing, closed

Where it is

8501 Woodward Ave.

On this map

  1. Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church This place
  2. People's Community Church 270 ft
  3. First Baptist Church of Detroit 280 ft
  4. North Woodward Congregational Church 0.1 mi
  5. Woodward-Gladstone Terrace 0.1 mi
  6. North Woodward Methodist Episcopal Church 0.1 mi
  7. John Kaiser House 0.2 mi
  8. William B. O'Brien House 0.2 mi
  9. George A. Robinson House 0.2 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Architect

Badgley & Nicklas

Architecture firm. Designed Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church (1911)

Sidney Badgley
Photo: Cleveland Engineering Society, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Sidney Badgley

Canadian-American architect, 1850 to 1917. Designed Highland Park Presbyterian Church (1910) and 2 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Sidney Badgley

More from Detroit in the 1910s

Around the block

It is in Piety Hill. 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. The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, that has been listed on the National..., 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at English 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
  3. Akron Plan Sunday School room of the Woodward Presbyterian Church, separated from the main sanctuary by a sliding wood..., 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. The main sanctuary of the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church, view from east balcony, highlighting the curved pews and..., 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. The main sanctuary of the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church, view from balcony, 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. Detail of pipe organ, a gift of Mrs. Tracy McGregor. Manufactured by the Tellers Organ Company of Erie, PA, 2009 Photo: Albert duce, CC BY-SA 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.