Union Park Congregational Church and Carpenter Chapel (also known as First Baptist Congregational Church) is a historic church building at 60 N. Ashland Blvd. on the Near West Side of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The chapel is named after

Philo Carpenter Philo Carpenter (February 27, 1805 – August 7, 1886) was Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois' first pharmacist, and an outspoken abolitionism, abolitionist. Biography Born in Savoy, Massachusetts, February 27, 1805, young Philo learned medic ...

, a deacon, a co-founder of the congregation and of the

Chicago Theological Seminary The Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a Christian ecumenical American seminary located in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of several seminaries historically affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It is the oldest institution of higher e ...

, and an early donor of the original church who was also a noted

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

and the city's first druggist. The two buildings are considered as a unit; together, they are a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artist ...

and an Illinois Historic Landmark and are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The church building is currently occupied by the First Baptist Congregational Church, whose official mailing address is 1613 W. Washington Blvd. in Chicago. The

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

chapel was designed by architect Otis Wheelock, partner of W. W. Boyington in the firm of Boyington & Wheelock, for the Chicago Theological Seminary, which was located on the same campus; the chapel was completed the same year that construction began on the church. The church, also in Gothic Revival, was designed by architect Gurdon P. Randall and was constructed between 1869 and 1871; it was added to the

in 2006.

References

External links

* Chicago UnionParkChurch Churches in Chicago Gothic Revival church buildings in Illinois Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Chicago UnionParkChurch Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois {{Chicago-struct-stub