Encyclopedia Of Detroit

The Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal congregation was organized when David Preston purchased two lots on the corner of Cass and Selden on May 1, 1881. By May 1883 sufficient funds were obtained to begin construction of a church. The Detroit architectural firm of Mason and Rice designed a “small chapel and congregation house.” A larger church was soon needed and the Detroit firm of Malcomson and Higginbotham was commissioned. The cornerstone was laid in September 1891, and the dedication held in November 1892. In 1928 the name was changed to Cass Community Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Richardsonian Romanesque church its built in the form of a cross. The building features an original green ceramic tile roof and an 86-foot square roof tower. Of special significance are the Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows and the Johnson and Sons Opus 779 church organ. The 1892 organ is thought to be the largest nineteenth-century pipe organ in Michigan.