Saint Clement Catholic Parish

Priests from Detroit served the Catholics of Kunrod’s Corner, present-day Center Line, from 1852 to 1857. In 1854 Saint Clement Catholic Parish was founded, and a church was erected on land sold to the Diocese of Detroit by Hermann and Magthalina Cramer and Anthony Joseph Clemens. Belgian, French, German, and Irish Catholics worshipped in the wooden church built on this site. The Reverend Henry H. Meuffels became the first resident pastor in 1857. In 1880-81 a spacious brick church was constructed to serve a growing parish. In 1892 the Sisters of Saint Dominic from Wisconsin reorganized the Saint Clement Elementary School and opened the high school in 1923. The present church was built in 1960-61. Saint Clement is Center Line’s oldest religious institution.