St. Michael's Church, Old Town, Chicago
St. Michael's Church in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago is a Roman Catholic church staffed by the Redemptorist order of priests. The parish was founded to minister to German and Luxembourgish Catholic immigrants in 1852 with its first wooden church completed that year at a cost of $750. The building stands at the intersection of Eugenie Street and Cleveland Avenue. The church was built as a haven for German immigrants who were outcasts in Old Chicago. In addition, the town's main church, St. Joseph's Church, was overcrowded. The Redemptorists were invited to administer the parish in 1860 and a large brick church was finished in 1869. When completed, its tower made it the tallest building in Chicago and the United States, a distinction it held until the old Chicago Board of Trade Building was completed in 1885.
View of the front of St. Michael's Church
St.Michaels Church (center) in Old Town in 2015. Many claims state that hearing distance from its bells indicate the borders of Old Town
St Michaels Church interior in Chicago 2018
The church as seen from Wells and North Avenue in the late 1960s
Old Town is a neighborhood and historic district in Near North Side and Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, home to many of Chicago's older, Victorian-era buildings, including St. Michael's Church, one of seven buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire.
An Old Town sign at Wells Street and North Avenue
St. Michaels Church (center) in Old Town in 2015; the borders of Old Town have sometimes been described as the hearing distance of its bells.
A plaque about Carl Street Studios on the building itself
People and art at the Old Town Art Fair in the 1960s
