Mishkan Yisroel Synagogue / Blaine Shul
Congregation Mishkan Israel was founded by immigrants from Horodok, Russia (today Ukraine) in 1912, building a synagogue on the corner of Benton and Antoine Streets. In 1925, as the congregation moved out of the slum areas downtown and into neighborhoods on the north side of the city, a new synagogue was built on Blaine Street just west of Linwood. Rabbi Isaac Stollman was selected as spiritual leader. It was one of the first synagogues in the city to emphasize working with youth by offering studies of the Talmud, and inviting youth groups to hold services in the auditorium. The congregation held its 25th anniversary on March 25th, 1951 with a banquet in the social hall of the synagogue.
By 1958, a large part of Detroit's Jewish population had continued to move northward out of the city, settling in the suburbs of Oak Park, Redford Township, and Livonia. In July, the leadership announced it was starting construction of a new synagogue on 9 Mile Road in Oak Park. Progress had advanced enough to where services were being held in the basement social hall of the building by August, and the synagogue was dedicated on December 7th, 1958. The service, which coincided with the first day of Hanukah, was led by Rabbi Isaac Stollman, who had stayed involved with the synagogue since 1925, and had become a highly respected Orthodox leader. Two years later, he would rejoin the congregation as its spiritual leader, serving until he immigrated to Israel in 1965. The congregation also announced plans to add a library and school in the future.
In preparation for the move to Oak Park, the old synagogue on Blaine had been sold two years earlier to another church, who took possession of it after the move. The new church was likely an African-American Protestant one, as many former synagogues were bought up by blacks moving out of the slums and into the former Jewish neighborhoods.
New Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, which had been holding its services in a house on Clairmount Street, moved into the former synagogue in November of 1964. In 1972, God's Inspirational Kingdom Church was founded, and moved into the building. There is some overlap on the dates on which the church moved out; paperwork filed with the state of Michigan showed New Mt. Moriah moved to its current location on Woodward Avenue in Highland Park in 1979. It's possible that both churches used the building on alternate days, but this is not clear.
God's Inspirational Kingdom Church remained in the Blaine street sanctuary until 2003 or 2004, when the church disbanded. The former synagogue fell into ruin, and has been decaying since. Though brick on the outside, most of the interior structure is wood, and has rotted as water has leaked through holes in the roof. Most of the balcony has collapsed onto the first floor, and both stairwells have fallen in.
