Click above images to enlarge Kolping Park and Chapel 47440Sugar Bush Road, Chesterfield Twp. - Macomb County Property Type church park Historic Use RELIGION/religious facility Current Use RELIGION/religious facility Style Romanesque Architect/Builder Reverend Father Joseph Wuest Significant Person Reverend Father Joseph Wuest Narrative Description The Kolping Park includes its famous wayside chapel along with a shrine to Blessed Father Adolph Kolping, a pavilion, dance hall, rifle range, picnic shelter, parade grounds, playground, soccer field and parking lot all contained within a nineteen-acre parcel of beautifully landscaped land. The park is rectangular in shape oriented on a southeast-northwest axis on Sugar Bush Road, south of Cotton Road in Chesterfield Township. The park's southernmost boundary sits on the Vase River. The chapel was designed and constructed by the Reverend Father Joseph Wuest, who was a journeyman bricklayer prior to becoming a priest. The park grounds, including the landscaping along with several structures, were the design of the Catholic Kolping Society members of Detroit, among them, Vincent Schultes, Joseph Schultes, Wendel Schultes and Frank Foster. The property is owned by the Catholic Kolping Society of America, Detroit Branch Incorporated. Statement of Significance The Kolping Park and Chapel is a unique architectural resource created by the Reverend Father Wuest and the members of the Catholic Kolping Society of America, Detroit Branch. It is significant for the architectural design, material and workmanship on the chapel by Father Wuest as well as its landscape architecture, planned and designed by the membership of the society along with the social and recreational facilities within the park. Finally, it is significant for its association with the life of the Reverend Father Wuest, who is responsible for the architectural design and the collection of the building materials in the chapel. In addition, the Reverend Father Wuest was a pioneer, who worked with German immigrant families and African American families in Detroit. Marker Name Kolping Chapel Marker Text KOLPING CHAPEL Father Joseph Wuest established the Detroit Chapter of the Catholic Kolping Society in 1926. Wuest inscribed "Honor by means of untiring work," on a plaque for this chapel, which he built in 1932. Constructed of stones and shells sent from Kolping societies, churches and missions worldwide, the Neo-Gothic chapel is reminiscent of European wayside shrines. Father Adolph Kolping founded the society in 1846 to benefit German tradesmen and their families. Period of Significance 1926-1946 Significant Date(s) 1926 & 1932 Registry Type(s) 10/24/1997 Marker erected 12/12/1996 National Register listed 02/29/1996 State Register listed Site ID# P697