Second Presbyterian Church

Second Presbyterian was designed by James Renwick Jr. and built from 1872-1874. The congregation itself dates back to 1842 and moved out of a previous home in 1871, holding their last service one week before the Great Chicago Fire. In 1900 a fire destroyed the sanctuary interior which was then redesigned to its present form by Howard Van Doren Shaw. In 2006 Friends of Historic Second Church was founded to oversee the preservation of 2nd Presbyterian. Since then they have completed several restoration projects and are still in the process of restoring the sanctuary. The interior remains original to the 1900 interior rebuilding. It is a beautiful museum of stained glass set within an Arts and Crafts style sanctuary which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013.