The Middle of No Where

St. Mary of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Church

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #29

Kathy, Sarah, and I had been mulling over the possibility of another quest when the opportunity presented itself.  We were going to spend a weekend in Caseville and the weather was supposed to be perfect. It seemed like the perfect time to set out on our next adventure.  I put together a plan that would basically take us on a loop of the eastern half of the Thumb, from Kinde, Michigan, to the eastern shoreline, down to Lexington, and then across to Marlette and back to Caseville.  If everything went to plan, we would hit 17 historical markers and 5 wineries. This was an extremely aggressive endeavor, and realistically, probably not possible, but we set out early in the morning under cloudless skies feeling like anything seemed possible.

Our first stop was a church – St. Mary of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Church.  We headed east on M-25 to Port Crescent Road, making our way to M-53. From there we headed south to Stoddard, where we headed east again until we got to Hellems Road.  We traveled south again for 3 miles until we got to Moeller Road, made a left and drove 0.43 miles to the marker. It was not difficult to find the church. As we made our way east and south through the Thumb, the landscape seemed to be as flat as the eye could see with nothing but farmlands in any direction.  Then, out of nowhere, there was this massive structure, with several smaller buildings clustered about, dominating the landscape.

St. Mary's Church is located 3 miles northeast of Kinde, Michigan in what is called Dwight Township.  Dwight Township is a civil township of Huron County comprising an area of 35.74 square miles and a population of 715 (as of 2017).  This area was heavily settled by Polish refugees who immigrated here in the 1840’s from Prussia. Many of the refugees were of Catholic faith and worshiped at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Port Austin.  In 1903, in an effort to hang onto their Polish customs and traditions, these immigrants created their own parish and built St. Mary’s Church, named after the Queen of Poland. The original church was constructed of wood and was built by the parishioners on land purchased by Frank and Rose Koroleski.  

Tragically, the original wood frame church burned to the ground on May 29, 1932, which was also the day that the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi.  Fr. Henry Podsiad directed the building of the new church, which was dedicated on May 28, 1933. It was built in the Polish Romanesque style and was constructed of brick and cobblestone.  The church is known for the interior beauty of its murals on the ceilings, as well as other outstanding decor of the church. On December 8th, 1982 the parish of St. Mary of Czestochowa and the parish of St. Edward the Confessor merged into one parish.  On July 1, 2013 the parish of St. Michael of Port Austin joined St. Mary of Czestochowa and St. Edward the Confessor and merged into one parish known as the Annunciation of the Lord Parish.

We tried to go inside the church and see the beautiful murals, but unfortunately the front doors were locked.  We wandered about the grounds for a bit taking pictures and soaking in the sunshine, and Sarah even explored the cemetery which is located to the east of the church.  The historical marker describes much of the early history of the church (as outlined above), but the unique feature about this sign is that the backside is all written in Polish.  Just beyond the marker, surrounded by a cove of trees and shrubs, is a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. It was such a beautiful and serene place smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

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