Ste. Anne de Détroit

01 / The story of this place

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Two days after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his settlers landed at Detroit on July 24, 1701, they began building a log chapel dedicated to Saint Anne, making it the first structure raised in the new settlement and the second-oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the United States after St. Augustine, Florida. Cadillac's wife, Marie-Thérèse Guyon Cadillac, who joined him the following year, is remembered for displaying what is described as Detroit's first collection of fine art inside the church. Fire destroyed the original chapel in 1703, and the fort's own soldiers tore down a later church in 1714 to keep it from being used as cover during fighting with the Fox nation; the parish nonetheless kept building new churches on or near the same ground as the city grew. The current Gothic Revival building, Detroit's second-oldest surviving church structure, was dedicated in 1886-87 on Ste. Anne Street near Corktown, and Pope Francis elevated it to a minor basilica in 2020, one of only three churches in Michigan to hold that honor.

1. Founded by Cadillac on July 26, 1701, Detroit's first building
2. Second-oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the U.S.
3. Marie-Thérèse Guyon Cadillac displayed early Detroit art here
4. Current Gothic Revival church dedicated in 1886–1887
5. Named a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2020