The Village of Algonquin, IL

In 1915, Father Joseph Lonergan, founder of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Cary, was com- missioned to officially organize a Catholic parish in Algonquin. He purchased land along the western banks of the Fox River, just below the dam. Algonquin "summer resident" Robert Layer, Sr., an architect and engineer, designed a lovely brick Greek Revival edifice, large enough to house the 26 families that represented the parish at that time, with ample extra room to seat the summer visitors to the church. The Algonquin church was a mission church under the guidance of the Cary church, and as such, the first mission priests were Father Lonergan and later Father Kilderry from the Cary parish.

A cornerstone setting ceremony for the “Corpus Christi” Catholic Church of Algonquin was held July 11, 1915. In addition to church members from Algonquin, hundreds of the "summer residents" came out by train from Chicago to attend the service. It was largely through the efforts and support of Algonquin's summer residents that the construction of the church became a reality. The church was officially dedicated "The Roman Catholic Church of St. Margaret Mary of the Sacred Heart" on Thanksgiving Day 1915 by Bishop Muldoon.

The first Catholic school opened in 1955 with 130 pupils in four grades. The little church on the river was converted into four additional classrooms. This structure was abandoned in 1958, and the church moved into the basement of the new school. A new rectory was built the same year. In 1969, the parish's registry reached 1,936 families and 181 students were enrolled in eight grades, as well as 309 students enrolled in other instruction.

Like the Village of Algonquin, the parish continued to grow and a new church was built and dedicated in 1983.

Return to the History of Algonquin.

Photo from the Historic Commission Archives