History & local legend
The original Saint Michael the Archangel Church stood at Fifth and Bayard streets in Elizabeth. After the building closed, local stories described strange contrasts inside: damaged plaster and birds in the pews, but an altar cloth that remained clean and white.
The stained-glass windows were said to retain their bright colors while only the saints' faces darkened. A former parishioner photographing the locked church on Christmas Eve 2007 found a wreath hung at its entrance, a quieter sign that people still remembered it.
The church was demolished in August 2008. Some stained glass was transferred to the chapel at the newer Saint Michael's, preserving part of the old building after its disappearance from the hill.
