A Forgotten Church Still Stands in a Forgotten Town

kellison71
Sep 7
3 min read

If you drive south down along Washington Avenue, past the Waterworks and the Saginaw Children’s Zoo, passing by Forest Lawn Cemetery, you’ll come across an area that looks as if it has some stories to tell. This area, once known as Salina, was the home of another one of Saginaw’s vibrant industries, salt production.

Salina, named for the salt deposits discovered underground, was a vibrant village in its own right. During the latter half of the 1800s, the area surrounding South Washington Avenue, Fordney, and Gallagher Streets formed the heart of the town, where salt production became a mainstay of life.

A byproduct from the lumber industry—salt brine was boiled to produce the salt using scrap remnants and sawdust from the sawmills—salt became one of the biggest industries in Michigan during the late 1800s. The East Saginaw Salt Manufacturing Company drilled its first brine well in 1860 and by 1862, twenty-three salt companies were in operation in the Saginaw Valley. Michigan soon became the nation’s largest producer of salt.

During Salina’s growth period, the first Presbyterian church on the east side of the river was established, the Presbyterian Church of South Saginaw, in 1866. Located on the corner of Washington Avenue and Williamson Streets (2312 S. Washington), this church served as the home of an active congregation for several generations, becoming known as the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church after the annexation of South Saginaw (a later moniker for Salina) with East Saginaw.

“With the consolidation of the cities of East Saginaw and South Saginaw, the church became known as the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church. The city's first Boy Scout troop was chartered at this church and one of its most outstanding members, Wilber M. Brucker, ruling elder of the congregation for many years, was governor of the State of Michigan from 1931 through 1932.” (State of Michigan Historical Commission Marker.)

Today, the brick building erected in 1885 as the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church still stands, though the congregants dwindled until it became a necessity to close the church in 1998 and merge with Countryside Presbyterian. The building later served as the home to the New Beginnings Life Changing Ministries, another part of its long history.

Unfortunately, as the lumber industry declined in the late 1800s, so too did the salt industry upon which it relied for fuel. Along with it, areas like Salina. Today, remnants of this town still survive on the forgotten south end of Saginaw...though something tells us, we'll be back to learn more about this interesting area in the future...

The Recipe: Sour Milk Biscuits

Clara Edna Bartlett Masters was born in Standish, Michigan in 1892, and died on April 22, 1977, in Saginaw. On the occasion of her eightieth birthday, her family honored her with a party, attended by 300 guests. The Saginaw News noted:

“Mrs. Masters is an active member of Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church, Women of the Moose and the NABA. She was employed by Home Dairy Co, the Profit Co. and later by Saginaw Steering Gear from which she retired in 1964.

Mrs. Masters, whose hobbies are cake decorating and making footstools, has a son, Robert G. Masters, and a daughter, Mrs. Leo Krawczak…” (The Saginaw News, December 21, 1972).

Today’s recipe comes from Clara Masters as published in the Washington Avenue United Presbyterian Church’s The Sunset Circle Cook Book, 1963.

Sour Milk Biscuits

4 cups flour

4 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

1 t. baking soda

¼ c. sugar

1 cup shortening

Enough sour milk to dampen good. Put on floured board and pat out to about 1” thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and bake in greased pan 20 minutes, at 350 degree oven.

CTK Interpretation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift or whisk flour, baking powder, salt, soda, and sugar together. Measure out 1 1/4 scant cup of milk and add enough white vinegar to make a full cup and a quarter. Let curdle or sour.

Mix cold shortening into flour mixture with pastry cutter or forks until pea-size pieces are distributed throughout flour. Slowly add in sour milk until the mixture just comes together, stirring as little as possible.

Pat out on floured board to 1” thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter and bake in greased pan, 22 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. We made 15, ~3" biscuits.