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McCourtie Park

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1920s. U.S. 12 at S. Jackson Rd.

On his forty-two-acre estate, “Aiden Lair,” William H. L. McCourtie, owner of the Trinity Portland Cement Company in Cement City, who was fascinated by the plasticity of soft cement, created concrete sculptures and bridges, transforming the property into a park. The works were sculpted in the trabajo rústico or faux bois tradition of carving the material to resemble wood—logs, planks, and ropes. The trabajo rústico sculptures were made by Mexican artisans living in Texas. McCourtie commissioned Dionicio Rodríguez to do the work. Rodríguez collaborated with George Cardosa and Rafael Corona. The result is an enchanting public park.

The shrine of St. Joseph Church (1854–1863, 1928–1929) at 8743 U.S. 12, just east of Cambridge Junction in the Irish Hills, displays Stations of the Cross constructed of concrete in 1928 by Rodríguez and Corona in the trabajo rústico manner.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "McCourtie Park", [Somerset Center, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-HI14.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 195-195.

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