Church of the Holy Family is Chicago's only example of pre-Civil War Victorian Gothic architecture.  Begun in 1857 in the midst of a financial panic, and built with the nickels and dimes of poor people, it became a powerful symbol of faith in the future of the city.  Architects Dillenburg and Zucker began work on the church and John van Osdel, Chicago's first registered architect, designed the interior.  The church was dedicated on August 26, 1860.

Founded by Rev. Arnold Damen, S.J., Holy Family is the original Jesuit parish in Chicago and the mother institution of Loyola University of Chicago (1870), Saint Ignatius College Prep (1870), and St. Ignatius Parish in Rogers Park.  It is the birthplace of The Catholic Order of Foresters (1883), The National Catholic Society of Foresters (1891).  The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM's) first came to Chicago and Holy Family parish in 1867.

Through the massive wooden doors of this Gothic church have come wave after wave of newcomers to Chicago - First Irish and German, then Italian immigrants, and more recently African-American and Mexican-American.  Each group has claimed Church of the Holy Family as its own, a place of beauty in their lives and in their neighborhood. 

Church of the Holy Family has survived The Great Chicago Fire, which began a few blocks away on October 8, 1871, depressions, shifts in population, urban renewal, and the threat of destruction by the wrecking ball in 1990.  Today, the church includes not only people from the neighborhood, but also from the entire Chicagoland area.

To see a more detailed history of the church, CLICK HERE.