Some Background
Presbyterians have been active in Chicago since the
city’s beginning. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1833, before
Chicago was officially incorporated. Early Presbyterians met in a carpenter
shop inside Fort Dearborn. Presbyterian minister Jeremiah Porter wrote that
Sabbath in the fort was “most shamefully abused” and that there were twenty
stores and groceries “dealing out liquid death” (RG 425, First Presbyterian
Church, Chicago, IL).
Fullerton Avenue
City of Lake View
Community of Lincoln Park
the original address 670 W Fullerton Avenue
*the oldest continous congregation in old Lake View*
illustration - Art Institute of Chicago image below- Lincoln Park by Melaine Apel
the first church
an 1914 account
These are excerpts from this booklet that is part of my collectionOpening Day
in 1864
24 Congregants added to the Flock
in 1875
Known today as the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church. This house of worship was a popular town-hall meeting place for citizens of the City of Lake View
1887 Rascher's Atlas Map
X marks the spot
the original church
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
1891zoomed below1894zoomed below100 years old
in 1964
in 1964
2000 photo - De Paul University Digital Collection
photo - Chicago Sojourn
photos below - their Facebook page
Township of Lake View
City of Lake View
pre 1909 address
561 Evanston Avenue
post 1909 address
Community of Lake View
1911 photo - Art Institute of Chicago
postcard - Chicago History in Postcards
A Celebration in 1929
what the area look like
in 1887
a vacant lot
X marks the spot of the future church
Services were held at Oak Hall at this time
or a tent at the site according to the article above
zoomed view below
north of Addison Street
south of Addison Street
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
1894
1923
In 1887 architects Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root
were asked to design a church for the Presbyterian congregation of Lake View
township. The membership had come together as a group three years before and
were currently holding their Sunday services in a tent. They'd acquired a nice
corner lot at Addison Street and Evanston Avenue (later Broadway) within sight
of the prominent Lake View Town Hall building at Addison and Halsted Streets,
and were ready to build a more permanent place to worship. Burnham and Root my
have seemed an odd choice to be asked to design a church. Known for their big
commercial projects in downtown Chicago like the Grannis, Montauk, Phoenix,
Rand McNally and the recently completed Rookery Building, the partners were
making quite a reputation for themselves as one of the city's go-to firms for
tall building construction.
But as successful as Daniel Burnham was in getting the firm the big jobs, John Root, as his sister-in-law and biographer Harriet Monroe wrote, "longed to build churches." John Root had recently undertaken another church project on Chicago's south side for the Roman Catholic parish of St. Gabriel. But his design for the Presbyterians turned away from the heavy brick exterior of the church in the city. Lake View at the time was not located within the corporate boundaries of the city it bordered, and was remote, sparsely populated by people or their buildings, and had a very suburban look and feel.
The fire resistant masonry edifice for St. Gabriel was
appropriate for its urban site, but for Lake View's largely pastoral setting,
Root went for the more organic rustic look and clad his clean-lined building in
unpainted wood shingles, which fit nicely into the rural landscape. Tagged the
"Shingle Style" in the 1950s, the amalgamation of stained wood
surfaces was generally referred to as "Seaside Cottage" in Root's
day, and had become a popular style of choice along the shoreline of the
country's northeastern seaboard before moving westward. But Root's small
building, unlike many of its East Coast predecessors, was a simple statement of
organic geometric forms shaped in wood.
The Before Look
1915 photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
The Parish House built in 1911
1911 photos - Art Institute of Chicago The building is well known due to the partnership between Daniel Burnham and John Root who designed some of Chicago's most famous commercial buildings, such as the Rookery
and the Monadnock building
full page - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
The Renovation:
Newsletter Article
from Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association
by Peter Buol
the contractorRenovation of this 'cornerstone of the community' started in 2004. Of the $1.23 million cost, $500,000 was donated by the Presbytery congregations and the rest was raised through secular (private) donations. During the renovation workers found the original cedar shingles underneath with white shingles. A paint historian helped them determine the shingles' exact color. This time, the church was insulated and fireproofed with sheathing underneath the shingles. By the year 2000 the renovation was complete.
photos - Lynn Becker/Repeat
6 photos below - unknown source
photos - Lake View Patch 2012
The Renovated
Interior
3 photos - Open House Chicago2 photos - their Facebook pageAnd after a January snow
by David Collins
postcard - Ebay
Their High School
*closed in 2015*
May 2014
LAKEVIEW — You wouldn't be able to tell from the outside,
but for more than 40 years, Lake View Presbyterian Church has been more than a
house of worship. It's been a home to Lake View Academy, an alternative high
school for Chicago Public Schools dropouts that's graduated more than 360 kids
over the years. Without a sign on the building at 716 W. Addison St., mostly
only people working with high school dropouts know about it, said the Rev. Joy
Douglas Strome, the church pastor. "It's not an evangelical effort,"
she said. "They're not church programs we're planning. They're community
programs we feel called to do as members of this church. We've always had a
heart for this community." Now the church wants to double the capacity of
the program by demolishing its western building and building a new one — one
that's twice as tall and more accessible for all the church's community
programs. It's already raised $500,000 for the $6 million project, Strome said.
"We’re going through a whole list of 'Who do you know?' until we’ve told
the stories enough times that we can find people who are interested in
investing in it," she said. Besides the diploma program, the building acts
as a community space for others, too. The church serves about 5,000 meals to
senior citizens each year, most of whom are not members of the church. Hundreds
of LGBT youths have flocked to the church each Friday night for food, movies
and dancing. A new building would increase space for students, including adding
a daycare or playgroup area to help both teen parents at the academy and local
single parents. Additional room would allow them to add a second service night
for LGBT youths.
Last Graduation 2015
Endeavor
Presbyterian Church
currently
Community of Lake View
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
1894
District of Lake View
Community of Lake View
photo - Flickr An Anniversary
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1928
zoomed & rotated from above initial vintage interior views
promotion of a mental health center
in 2000
Change is Good
by 2008
A More Modern Photo View
photos - their Facebook page
below - Foundry
their kitchen staff
Property Sold
in 2024
their Casavant Brothers Pipe Organ
Opus 38-SH, 1916
The Fifth United
Presbyterian Church
of Chicago
District of Lake View
known currently as
Community of Uptown
*There must have been a fire at one point*
zoomed view from above
2021 Google Viewswas the parking lot the original church location??
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
1894
zoomed from above
1928
1907 postcard - Chicago History in Postcards
both photos - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
Temperance Campaign
in 1907
The Congregants
photos - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
image - The Congregationalist and Christian World 1903
postcard - Ebay
District of Lake View
Community of Uptown
4301 N Sheridan Road
the original church - same location as the second
postcard - Ebay
probably built shortly after congregation was formed in 1905this building stood from 1922-1996
photo - Jamie Prata via Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group
a 1946 interior view below - Chicago Public Library
Sanborn Fire Map location 1928
postcard - Ebay
photo below - Pinterest
photo - Chicagogeek via Flickr
Post Notes:
This post is part of a 6 part series of blog posts about 'Houses of Worship' according to faith. Most Houses of Worship have attached schools on their private property that I may or may not be highlight in any of these posts.
Read the list of all types of churches as of 1905:
Please follow me to my next post called
Important Note:
These posts are exclusively used for educational
purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should
anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
The Parish House built in 1911
1911 photos - Art Institute of Chicago
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photo - Flickr
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