FEATURE image: Aeolian Skinner organ, sanctuary, 10/2015 6.27mb. Text and Photographs by John P. Walsh.
Daniel Hudson Burnham, c. 1890. The First Presbyterian of Evanston church building was designed in 1895 by architect Daniel Burnham (1846-1912) who lived in Evanston.The sanctuary seats over 1,000 worshippers. It has a vaulted roof with Nordic-style timber trusses for support instead of major columns that might obstruct views as well as retains an inclusive worship space. “PA02.2018 – 101” by Presbytery of Chicago is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Music is enhanced by First Presbyterian Church of Evanston’s Aeolian Skinner organ, portions of which date to the 1890s, and is one of Chicago’s finest organs. Wall-filling arched stained-glass windows tell Old and New Testament stories. 10/2015 6.81mbFirst Presbyterian Church, 1427 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL One of the historic church’s dramatic wall-filling stained-glass windows.10/2015 7.79mb 80%Creation of Adam; Fall of Adam and Eve; Expulsion from the Garden; Priest Aaron and brother of Moses; three angelic visitors to Abraham; the story of Moses. 10/ 2015 7.87mb 90%Burt J. Denman, born in Toledo, Ohio, was an engineering graduate of the University of Michigan who was vice president and general manager of the United Light Power Company. Denman was for a while a leading Methodist layman and trustee of Northwestern University. 10/2015 2.76mbFrom Raymond Park, stained glass window and limestone walls. 10/2015 5.35 mbKing Solomon. 10/2015 7.81mb 98%Adjacent to Raymond Park, the 1895 Gothic Renaissance building is made of Lemont limestone with a tile roof and 120-foot-tall bell tower with open belfry. Raymond Park, which is part of the Evanston parks system, is named for Rev. Dr. Miner Raymond (1811-1897). Rev. Miner Raymond was born in New York City and began his career as a cobbler. Following his matriculation at Methodist Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Raymond became a teacher at the school starting in 1833 and its principal from 1848 to 1864. In 1837 he married Elizabeth Henderson in Webster, Massachusetts, and they had 8 children together. In 1864 Rev. Miner Raymond with his family relocated to Illinois where he became professor of systematic theology at Garrett Biblical Institute in Chicago. In 1884 he received his LL.D. from Northwestern University. Mrs. Raymond died in 1877 and the widower married Isabella (Hill) Binney in 1879 though she died after 1880. Dr. Rev. Miner Raymond died in 1897 and is buried in historic Rosehill Cemetery. “First Presbyterian Church of Evanston” by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
