West Vernor-Junction Historic District is a commercial historic district located along West Vernor Highway between Lansing and Calvary in Detroit, Michigan. The district includes 160 acres (0.65 km2) and 44 buildings.[2] Parks near the neighorhood include Patton Park and Clark Park, named for U.S. Generals George S. Patton and Mark W. Clark. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.[1]
The West Vernor-Junction Historic District is adjacent to Mexicantown and contains a large vibrant Latino community and resurgent neighborhoods. It includes the historic Most Holy Redeemer Church, designed by architects Donaldson and Meier, which was once estimated as the largest Catholic parish in North America.[3][4] It contains an elementary school. The locally popular Roman Catholic high school was replaced by another in suburban Detroit.
A Hollywood movie, The Rosary Murders (1987), starring actor Donald Sutherland prominently featured the neighborhood. As in other Southwest Detroit neighborhoods such as Springwells Village, West Vernor Highway here is its main commercial thoroughfare. Churches, parks, recreation centers, and theatres archor neighborhoods such as the West Vernor-Junction. The major area parks include Clark's Park and Patton Park, both named for the famous World War II generals. The 600-seat Stratford Theatre at 4751 W. Vernor Hwy., designed by Joseph P. Jogerst, seated 1,137 when it opened in 1916. The Art Deco-styled Stratford in the West Vernor-Junction Historic District has operated as a retail store since 1985.
Many Lithuanians settled in Detroit during the World War II era, especially on the city's Southwest side in the West Vernor area where the renovated Lithuanan Hall reopened in 2006.[5] St. Anthony's parish at 1750 25th Street became a predominantly attended by Lithuanian immigrants and continues to hold servies in Lithuanian.[6]
United States
