FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DETROIT - UNDERGROUND RAILROAD LIVING MUSEUM

Congregationalist churches are Protestant churches of Reformed tradition. The Detroit building was built in 1844, but it was not until 1891, at the height of the Victorian era, that John Faxon built this magnificent building, which combines Romanesque and Byzantine architecture. A visit to the interior is really worth a visit, if only to see its Casavant Frères organ or the superb frescoes painted on the ceiling of the Sanctuary by Miss Lyle Durgin. Its other major attraction is undoubtedly its living Underground Railroad Museum, which saw many black slaves flee to Canada and freedom in Detroit between 1840 and 1863. Actors will take you back to this dark page of history, from Gorée Island, a strategic point in the African slave trade, to Midnight (codename for Detroit) where slaves found refuge just before the passage to Canada. Conclude your visit at the exhibition room in the Station House. Moving! Moving!