St. Michael Church

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• Tallest church in Chicago (according to the best available sources, and excluding the Chicago Temple which is a mixed-use building).
• Built by the Redemptorist Fathers for the German community in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.
• Most of the building was destroyed in the 1871 Chicago Fire, but the walls and tower survived and the rest was rebuilt within about two years. The original completion date had been 1869.
• The land was donated to the parish by Michael Diversey, namesake of Diversey Avenue and owner of the Diversey & Lill beer brewery.
• Tallest building in Chicago from 1869 to 1885; surpassed by the old Board of Trade Building (allowing for a possible gap in its reign when part of the tower burned in the Chicago Fire).