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Bornthere
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Username: Bornthere

Post Number: 2
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 9:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anyone on here know the status of St. Anthony Parish. I don't know the cross streets; I do know that Sheridan ran right next to it and it's near E.Grand Blvd.

My mom lived on Sheridan growing up. I can only imagine what it looks like there now. Guess I don't want to see it. I live out of state now and haven't been to that area in a long time.

Thanks for any info.
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Taj920
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Username: Taj920

Post Number: 211
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 9:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

St. Anthony's closed last fall; it merged with Annunciation to form a new parish at Annuncation off of E. Jefferson. Not sure what that new parish is called.
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Bornthere
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Username: Bornthere

Post Number: 5
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 1:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank You. I finally did enough tracking to find that it had closed.

Too bad; I guess that's just 'progress'. Things change.

I'm so glad my mom is no longer alive to hear that it closed. She would have been stressed to hear it.

Not surprised, just sad. I wonder what they will do with the building?
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 63
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 2:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Too bad; I guess that's just 'progress'. Things change."

In reality its an accomplishment St. Anthony made it this long. The neighborhood has not been Catholic in many years. I knew people that lived on Field until 1968. Even in the early 1960's they figured when the older people died off in that neighborhood the church would close in not too many years. However, St. Anthony High School, which accepted students from everywhere and then the formation of Detroit East Catholic probably helped keep that place afloat a lot longer than otherwise. If you would have told somebody 45 years ago that St. Anthony would last longer than St. David, St. Juliana, St. John Berchman, St. Martin, and St. Philip Neri they would have thought you were full of it. Additionally, that St. Anthony would close within the same time frame(give or take a year or two) as Guardian Angel or St.Brendan would be absurd. Times do change whether losing these churches has been progress is subject to debate. I personally don't believe so but its extremely difficult to change demographics.
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Swiburn
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Username: Swiburn

Post Number: 126
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 12:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think the East side churches first started losing members in the l950s, due to the many auto plant supplier factories closing and the freeways being built.

I lived on Field St. when St. Charles Borromeo was the popular nearby parish, but that all ended with the riots.

Then, of course, the riot of l967.

And then, a factor not often mentioned might be the abolition of the residency rule, which led a lot of East side Catholic police and fire fighters to simply move out of town instead of attending the churches and schools.

The Servite Order taught at St. John Berchman, and when they left in the l980s, Servite High closed.
St. Philip Neri most likely closed due to the nearby factories going out of business.

I agree with Whithorn that the East Side Vicariate High School kept St. Anthony going.
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Joken
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Username: Joken

Post Number: 7
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 2:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bornthere,ask yor mom if she remembers the knights of st. john hall right around the corner from st. anthony on gratiot. attended boy scout meetings there.
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 75
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 2:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Swiburn,
I agree a good number of people moved when the job reduction due to automation and also "runaway shops" left the area. However, I think the fundamental problems with St.John Berchman and St.Philip Neri's decline were the 1960's blockbusting more than factories closing. In the 1960's the blockbusting that started on the lower east side spread like wildfire. The segment that started at Jefferson and Conner kept spreading north along Conner. Basically, the St. Philip Neri neighborhood was sandwiched between the Jefferson/Kercheval and Conner/Dickerson situation and the St. John Berchman matter. Much of the change around St. John Berchman had to do with the Parkside projects. The truth is when Blacks in great numbers moved to Parkside the middle class whites in that neighborhood freaked out. In 1960 Parkside homes was 95% white because at the time the Federal Government tried to keep the demographics of the housing projects and neighborhood relatively the same. The real estate agents had a field day on the streets around there after the Kennedy/Johnson administrations changed that policy. The people around there had the money to move into such places as St. Clair Shores, north Warren, and some of the new houses in Sterling Heights(then Sterling Twp.) Also, their was a priest at St.John Berchman that was basically promoting the blockbusting in the eyes of the parishioners. Many thought the priest was working with the real estate agents and getting a cut of the money. Yes, these churches lasted into 1980's or early 1990's but the heart of those churches had been ripped out years before.

(Message edited by Whithorn11446 on May 09, 2007)
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Swiburn
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Username: Swiburn

Post Number: 128
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 2:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whithorn, Thanks for the background on the East side parishes.
Yes, of course the blockbusting was terrible. And the greedy real estate people bought houses at a low price from the whites and sold high to the blacks. A really despicable practice all around. It's too bad about the hysteria and the fear, too.
The real estate agents tried those techniques on towns like Pleasant Ridge and Ferndale when I-696 was being put through, but it didn't work, and now those houses are worth quite a bit of money to those sane enough to hold on.
I'm sure the same blockbusting techniques were used on the west side Catholic churches, also.
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 76
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 3:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Swiburn,
From what I know the blockbusting was even worse in Northwest Detroit. The west siders would know more but a great deal of neighborhoods from Livernois to Greenfield saw changes throughout the 1960's in a matter of three of four years. I think between 1960-63 much of the blockbusting was concentrated between Livernois and Meyers. I think that would be parishes like St. Cecilia and St. Brigid. Perhaps Epiphany in the Meyers-W.Chicago area would have experienced the blockbusting issue in the 1964-67 era but I am unsure.

(Message edited by Whithorn11446 on May 09, 2007)
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Swiburn
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Username: Swiburn

Post Number: 130
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 6:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the information, Whithorn. I know that St. Brigid lost many parishioners due to the freeway, but the blockbusting must have been an even greater curse.
Sociologists have stated the "tipping point" where a neighborhood goes from one race to another. I can't remember what it is, but it's pretty low. There's even a "tipping point" for homeowner to rental neighborhoods. 40%
I'll have to ask about that at my city planning meeting tomorrow. Thanks for all your enlightenment.
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Larry
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Username: Larry

Post Number: 162
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 11:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What was the original ethnicity of St Anthony's. The church's first's pastor had a Polish name (Pawlowski), but his successor had a German name (Konig).
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 80
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 11:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Originally, the parish was German. However, by the 1960's the remaining whites in the neighborhood were mostly Polish it seemed.
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Swiburn
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Username: Swiburn

Post Number: 140
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 12:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes,, the parish was originally built for German settlers and farmers in the wilds of the E. Grand Blvd. area.
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Detroithabitater
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Username: Detroithabitater

Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 1:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I THINK the new combined parish name is "Good Shepherd"

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