4656 Canton Street
Columbus Lodge No. 215 of Odd Fellows, City of the Straits Lodge No. 243 of the Knights of Pythias, The Pythian Sisters, Swiss Hall, Venetian Hall, Venetial Club—Mutual Benefit Society, Venetian Social Club of Mutual Aid, New Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church
This structure was designed by Spier & Gehke for the International Order of Odd Fellows. It was featured in the July 1919 issue of Michigan Architect & Engineer and was likely completed in 1918. More specifically, it was built for the Columbus Lodge No. 215 of Odd Fellows, which was established around 1873.
Throughout the 1920s, it was utilized to host community events, parties, and meetings for local organizations like the Knights of Pythias and the Pythian Sisters. Many of the events were hosted at the ‘Columbus Hall.’ In the 1910s, a structure near that intersection was sometimes called the Odd Fellows’ Hall.
By the 1930s, the structure had become the Swiss Hall. The Helvetia Ladies’ Club, War Veterans of Michigan, the Swiss Club, and other Swiss groups held events here. However, Detroiters hailing from Switzerland weren’t the only ones to use the space.
On February 18, 1938, the Detroit Unit of the German-American Volksbund, or Bund, hosted an event at the Swiss Hall. More than 150 members congregated inside under the leadership of John H. B. Schreiber, a foreman at a local car plant. Outside, protestors made their voices heard.
According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, “The German American Bund was an organization of ethnic Germans living in the United States. Their pro-Nazi agenda supported US isolationism, avoidance of European conflicts for Germany’s benefit.”
The event’s coverage at the time in the Detroit Free Press was limited and appeared to side with the Volksbund. Perhaps it wasn’t known what the group stood for; however, it makes for a damning read in 2023. Regardless, the protestors outside were labeled as communists. The article said 50 demonstrators stood outside heckling members and later tried to enter the hall. The police were called and restrained the protestors. By the end of the meeting, just five remained.
Wilhelm Kunze spoke at the meeting, who was later arrested in Mexico after fleeing the United States in an attempt to escape to Germany. Kunze was the one-time leader of the German-American Bund in the United States. Born in Camden, Kunz would eventually join the Friends of New Germany, a precursor to the German-American Bund, and would be sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 in 1942.
In 1939, the Detroit Free Press featured an additional article about the event at the Swiss Hall. This time, the protestors were called Anti-Nazis.
Throughout the late 1930s, there were multiple meetings for the City of the Straits Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, with the group also hosting events and parties inside the Swiss Hall. In 1940, the structure was run by the United Swiss Societies of Detroit.
That same year, the Swiss Minister to the United States, Dr. Charles Bruggmann, spoke at the Swiss Hall. His message was clear—Switzerland was neutral and would come out of the war as strong as ever. At the time, the president of the Swiss Society in Detroit was Fred. E. Lauzinger.
Within a few years, the hall changed hands again. This time, Italians would call it home. In 1942, the Italian-American Civilian Defence Committee met here. By this point, it was called the Venetian Hall. On the front left of the structure, an old piece of limestone appears to have been painted over at least ten times. I think that the word Venetian is inscribed here.
The organization’s official name was the Venetial Club—Mutual Benefit Society. The club’s goal was to unite people from the Provinces of Venetia, Venetia Guilia, and Tridentina, Italy, and to “promote reciprocal aid and assistance in the case of sickness, accident and death of its members…” Said members had to be between the ages of 16 and 50, at least when the articles of incorporation were filed in 1929.
In 1945, the club, now called the Venetian Social Club of Mutual Aid, officially moved from 4409 Montclair to 4656 Canton Street, pictured here.
Throughout the 1940s, there were numerous events for Italian Detroiters and those from the neighborhood of all heritages. Many Italians were in the area—the S.M.S. Lombarda Hall is just over a mile from the building. However, after the 1940s, I haven’t found many events at the Venetian Hall.
In 1957, the Venetian Club of Mutual Aid moved again. This time, they’d end up at 12701 Greenfield Road. The organization still exists, operating out of the Club Venetian Banquet Center at 29310 John R Road in Madison Heights.
After the Venetian Club left, the structure became New Pilgrim Baptist Church.
In 1958, the church had a guest speaker for its Women’s Day festivities. Mrs. Corenne Watts from Birmingham, Alabama, was the guest of honor. She was the director of the Young People’s Department of the Southern District and was widely known for her work with youth in the South. At the time, the reverend was H. E. Owens, and Mrs. Sadie Booker was the General Chairman.
In 1963, for the church’s fifth annual Men’s Day celebration, John B. Swainson, former governor of Michigan, delivered a speech at the 3:30 service. Although Swainson lost his reelection bid to George W. Romney, Swainson was generally popular in Detroit. That same year, he joined Martin Luther King Jr., Clarence L. Franklin, Albert Cleage, Walter Reuther, Jerome Cavanaugh, then mayor of Detroit, and other local and national leaders in the Detroit Walk to Freedom from Woodward and Adelaide to Cobo Hall. There, MLK delivered the precursor to his famous “I Have A Dream” speech that would be released on Berry Gordy’s Gordy Record Label, a subsidiary of Motown Records. Additionally, James C. Jackson, the reverend from Tulsa, spoke at the 11 AM and 7 PM services at New Pilgrim.
The organization was also called New Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.
The church was still operating into the 2000s but officially folded on the state level around 2019. Since then, the structure has been sold and listed for sale again. This time, the asking price is $399,000.
I have always admired this structure for numerous reasons. One, it’s basically on Gratiot Avenue, but it has its own little turnout. Two, it’s next to a cute park facing an old ghost sign for the hardware store across the street. Last, the lot it sits on is enormous due to the demolition of structures nearby. I’ve heard that the structure’s bones aren’t in terribly great shape; however, the interior looks lovely from the photos provided in the sale information.
Hopefully, the right owner can turn this structure back into a community space for all in the area to enjoy, regardless of heritage.
