History of Fourth Presbyterian Church (redacted)

The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago was organized on February 12, 1871, through the merger of two older congregations,  founded in 1848 and 1855.

The new congregation spent six months refurbishing  North Presbyterian’s existing church building on the southeast corner of Wabash and Grand and rededicated the renovated structure on Sunday, October 8, 1871. A few hours later the church burned to the ground in the Chicago Fire.

In February 1874 they dedicated a stone church on the northwest corner of Rush and Superior Streets that they would use for just over forty years.

In 1911 Fourth Church  had outgrown its property at Rush and Superior. They purchased a plot of land three blocks north, on what would later become Michigan Avenue, and the cornerstone for a new edifice was laid on September 17, 1912.

The Sanctuary was designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram, the parish buildings around the courtyard by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, and the stained glass windows by Charles J. Connick. The interior painting and decoration of the Sanctuary was overseen by Frederick Clay Bartlett. The new church was dedicated in 1914.Except for the Water Tower complex which survived the Chicago Fire of 1871, Fourth Church is now the oldest surviving structure on Michigan Avenue north of the river.