4132 Chene Street
Service Station, Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church, Sweet Kingdom Annex
Small service stations are fairly challenging to research—at least on the surface level. There aren’t many left in Detroit, and the few that still stand are often in poor shape and unused. At best, they’re a part of an auto shop or used for storage. A church currently uses this one—but we’ll get there later.
I’d imagine this structure was built in the 1920s. It appears similar to other stations from that era. This one was added onto in the 1940s. Initially, it was probably just a small square with the two pillars out front.
In 1931, Emil Brucker operated the station. A piece in the Detroit Free Press said he was robbed at the service station he ran at Chene and Superior. According to the article, there had been a string of hold-ups on the east side that were eventually pinned to Morris Wise, a 24-year-old who also went by Bill Morris and James Gerz. He had hit at least six licks, including robbing the station pictured here.
In 1957, Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church was incorporated. By 1964, it was utilizing the church across the street from the service station. At some point, they purchased the structure and placed a sign that read, ‘Sweet Kingdom Annex’ on the facade. A photo from the New York Times by Camilo José Vergara from 1993 depicts the sign, so it was there by then.
I haven’t been able to determine when this building stopped being used as a service station or auto shop, what the church used it for, or if they have any plans for it. Within the last year or two, the roof collapsed, leaving the two pillars alone at the corner of Chene and Superior.
Soon, this structure will be another vacant lot covered in concrete to hide (and protect us from) its industrial past. For now, it remains a carcass of the life that used to ooze out of Poletown East and the surrounding neighborhoods.
I’m often able to find a positive in the structures I research, but this one has left me cold and uninspired.
