Fourth Presbyterian Church

Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago traces back to a single service on October 8, 1871, when two just-merged congregations dedicated a freshly renovated sanctuary near Grand and Wabash. Hours later the Great Chicago Fire tore through the building, leaving most member families homeless along with the church itself, though one elder managed to bury the church's silver communion set in the sand along the lake before the flames reached it. The guide follows the congregation through two more buildings, ending at the limestone Gothic church architect Ralph Adams Cram designed for this corner in 1914.