Deserted in Detroit: Craig's Chapel Baptist Church

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.

People driving by this long, flat, empty building might not even give it a passing thought…or they may just brush it off as maybe it was a bar or a small factory of some sort. Well, this old building has quite a history for only being a little over one hundred years old. In a little over fifty years’ time, this building was used as a bank, a pool hall, a diner, and a church.

Now it sits empty, abandoned, and full of dead rats. Craig's Chapel Baptist was originally constructed in 1923 as a branch of the Central Savings Bank. One of the first Central Savings banks was located on Grand River Avenue and began operating sometime after 1900.

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However, this newer 1923 bank location at the corner of 31st Street and 4800 Buchanan Street was not to last. After shutting down, the building was used as a pool hall and a diner – which came first is not known, but while taking a look at the inside, there are seats that are similar to those of a diner.

Once those businesses called it quits, it was used as the location of Craig's Chapel Baptist in 1973. Although the new church gave a nearby place for the residents of 31st and Buchanan streets to worship, it was not to last. Twenty six years later, in 1999, Craig's Chapel Baptist permanently shut down, where it remains empty, deserted, and littered with occasional dead rats.