First Baptist Congregational Church is a Baptist congregation now located in the former Union Park Congregational Church building, a Chicago Landmark at 60 N. Ashland Blvd. in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The church was designed by architect Gurdon P. Randall and built between 1869 - 1871. The First Congregational Church, founded in 1851, merged with Union Park Congregational in 1910. First Baptist acquired the building in 1970; the congregation's official address is 1613 W. Washington Blvd.
The church was built in what was then a very fashionable neighborhood of Chicago. Part of the church's historical significance lies in the fact that after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, several essential civic functions were temporarily relocated to the church -- the Mayor's Office, the City Council, and the General Relief Committee. Many people who had been displaced because their homes had burned camped out in nearby Union Park.
The Lemont limestone building, which has a slate roof, is nearly square in plan except for shallow transepts barely a few feet deep at the north and south sides. The interior was designed by Randall in amphitheater style, with a nod to the sermon-centered Congregational service. Randall is often credited with originating this seating design, which has been widely imitated over the years.[1] Immediately adjacent to the south is the smaller Carpenter Chapel, a long rectangular space with a simpler plastered and wood-trimmed interior; its exterior is also of Lemont limestone and is built in a similar style.[2] The Carpenter Chapel's spire, the church's thin south spire, and the steeple together form a line of increasing height from left to right, visually joining the two structures. Part of the main church building's roof and interior were severely damaged in the February 2, 2011 blizzard.[3]
The church is highlighted in many books on church architecture, among them, "Chicago Churches: A Photographic Essay" by Elizabeth Johnson (Uppercase Books Inc, 1999) as well as "Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage" by George A. Lane, SJ and Algimantas Kezys, SJ (Loyola Press, 1982). The building is an Illinois Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on January 21, 1982.[4]
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