Ste. Anne De Detroit

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Ste. Anne de Détroit (Sainte-Anne-de-Détroit), founded July 26, 1701, is the second oldest continuously operating Roman Catholic parish in the United States, established when the area was part of the French colony. The current Gothic Revival cathedral styled church, built in 1886, is located at 1000 Ste. Anne Street in Detroit, Michigan, in the Richard-Hubbard neighborhood, near the Ambassador Bridge, and the Michigan Central Station. Historically, the parish community has occupied eight different buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The main entry to the Church faces a grand tree-lined, brick paved plaza. The present parish is largely Hispanic in population.HistorySte. Anne's church was the first building constructed in Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, which later developed as the city of Detroit. Cadillac and a party of French colonists arrived at the bank of the Detroit River on July 24, 1701. They began construction of a church on July 26, 1701, the feast day of Saint Anne (sainte Anne). The parish was founded and named by the settlers in honor of the patron of France, Saint Anne, mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. Nicholas Constantine del Halle, a Franciscan, and François Vaillant, a Jesuit, were the two priests who accompanied the group. Vaillant returned east to Quebec in the fall.