This monumental Romanesque Revival church was erected in 1859 according to plans by architect Horatio N. White of Syracuse, New York. It is this congregation's third church. In 1871 the building was raised eight feet to accommodate lower-level classrooms. In September 1861, on the eve of departing for duty in the Civil War, the "Jackson Blair Cadets" and the Jackson County Rifles gathered with their families in the crowded sanctuary. At Detroit's Fort Wayne the troops joined the Eighth and Ninth Michigan infantries respectively. Beginning in the 1840s with the antislavery movement, the congregation actively participated in social reform -- most notably the temperance and civil rights crusades.