humboldt park church razed - 1889 time capsule recovered from its cornerstone

just this past week another late nineteenth century church was wrecked in humboldt park. arriving to scope out the recipient of this new demolition sentence, the two-story masonry jehovah's witnesses church held immediate intrigue, a modest structure painted completely gray, but veiling certain architectural features that appeared to be of a much older variety. the initial point of interest was a painted-over and barely visible plaque embedded in the gable above the upper story window. i suspected the engraved tablet would provide crucial information as to its original iteration or use.

unfortunately, demolition is all too often the avenue for uncovering these elements of a building's history, when one can examine the building up close, analyze fragments on the ground, or reveal the structural configuration beneath any remuddlings. in line with this, once the sandstone plaque or tablet with beveled corners was brought down from the wall, it was once again legible as "st. paul's e.e.l. church."

as it turns out the building at 2733 w. hirsch (formerly 315 w. hirsch, prior to 1909 re-numbering) was once an evangelical lutheran congregation. an 1886 sanborn insurance map shows the lot to be empty, which bungled any suspicion that the building was constructed years prior.

records indicate st. paul's church was organized by prof. r.f. weidner, of the english lutheran seminary in 1890, and in 1902 became the first english congregation to join the hauge synod, a norwegian lutheran church body first organized in 1876. an issue of "building budget" from 1889 definitively pinned down a date of construction: that year almquist & lebert built the congregation on "hirsh street, near humboldt park, a brick and stone church 36 x 60 ft" at a cost of $5,000.

i discovered original stenciled walls during the course of demolition. a few of the intricate designs retained the original gold-leafing. as more and more became exposed, i noted several design variations and collected samples of each pattern to document in the studio.

mid-demolition, my wrecker friend informed me that he had arrived at the building's entrance with his backhoe. i rushed over to the site, and he waited patiently while i scrambled to determine whether a cornerstone would be tucked away in one of two limestone blocks flanking the entrance. sure enough, after some light demolition or excavation, the cornerstone was uncovered. right before my eyes was a square copper box representing the building's "time capsule" or foundation deposit, containing remnants from the year it was built.

confirming research into the church's origins, the contents of the capsule included a dime and penny from 1889, a card containing information on the reverend, and several newspaper and church publications of that same year. according to the business card, rev. e.c. jessup ran services twice every sunday at gamboni hall, 925 california ave, and resided at 817 n. washtenaw avenue.

ephemera included: a norwegian-language newspaper "skandinaven" with blue pencil mark circling an announcement of st. paul's church construction, an issue of "the daily inter ocean" from october 26, 1889, a sample copy of volume ix, no. 11 of "the workman," published in pittsburgh and including a subscription slip, an issue of "augustana och missionaren" published out of rock island, illinois, and stamped "rev. e.c. jessup / 817 n washtenaw av.",  "the morning news" from saturday october 26, 1889, "the lutheran observer" from september, published out of lancaster and philadelphia, pennsylvania, a copy of the svenska tribune, and a single badly disintegrated hand-written letter.

this church demolition follows two similar sites in humboldt park which were covered in blog posts around two months ago. early in march a church at 1639 n. artesian was demolished, revealing a building within a building (a late nineteenth century structure behind an early twentieth century masonry "shell"), that once served as the bjorgvin singing society hall.

similarly, in a visit to the still-standing but dilapidated red brick church at the corner of artesian and potomac, urban remains documented the impressive semi-abandoned structure awaiting redevelopment. this church was founded as a zion evangelical lutheran church affiliated with the united norwegian lutheran church of america. construction on the chapel began in 1891 (just three years after the construction of the church at 315 w. hirsch). interestingly one of the church leaders at zion was also a member of the aforementioned bjorgvin singing society. in 1912 the zion ev. lutheran church hosted an unusual denominational change, becoming the leading orthodox (later, traditional) synagogue in the northwest side as the ezras israel congregation. 

taken together, these buildings stand as a historically important record of the strong scandinavian cultural life in the neighborhood at the turn of the century. without these structures, a cohesive history of migration and cultural life in the area is less intelligible, not to mention less visible. more generally, they further prove the fragile standing of late nineteenth century places of worship, where if residential conversion fails to take place, church structures inevitably fall to neglect until being wrecked.