Church of St. Casimir in Detroit

The history of St. Casimir’s parish dates back to 1882, when the first church was erected and Fr. Paweł Gutowski (1845-1918), an immigrant from Poland previously working in a German parish, became its parish priest. Initially the parish was small, of about 80 families. Then, in 1889, a new church was built. The altars were commissioned from A. Osebold, the stained glass windows from George Misch from Chicago. The design of the church referred to the Byzantine and Romanesque styles. The most important element of its composition was a huge dome with a diagonal of over 40 meters. The following years brought further investments – expansion of the Sisters’ convent and school. In 1961 St. Casimir’s Church was demolished and replaced with a structure which was smaller and cheaper to maintain. However, the parish was closed in 1989.