A 133-Year-Old Masterpiece Returns: Second Presbyterian Church's Historic Stained-Glass Window Is Back Where It Belongs
By Socialhood News · South Loop ·
South Loop neighbors, one of the most quietly spectacular landmarks in your neighborhood just reached a milestone that's been years in the making — and if you haven't looked up at the windows of Second Presbyterian Church lately, now is the moment.
Work was underway this week to reinstall a 133-year-old stained-glass window inside the historic Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago, located in the South Loop, according to CBS Chicago. The restoration team working to preserve the landmark church celebrated the milestone publicly this week — a moment that represents not just a conservation victory, but a living reminder of how long this congregation and this building have anchored the neighborhood.
Second Presbyterian Church, at 1936 S. Michigan Avenue, is one of Chicago's most architecturally significant religious buildings. Designed by James Renwick Jr. — the same architect behind St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York — the Gothic Revival structure dates to 1874 and sits in the heart of the South Loop's Michigan Avenue corridor, steps from Cermak Road and within easy walking distance of the Museum Campus. The building's interior is renowned for its collection of Arts and Crafts-era stained glass, including windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Edward Burne-Jones, making it one of the most important repositories of that art form in the entire country.
The return of a window that has been away for conservation work — a 133-year-old piece, by definition created in the early 1890s — is the kind of event that doesn't generate a ribbon-cutting or a press conference, but deserves one. Stained-glass conservation at this level is painstaking, expensive, and slow. Each panel must be carefully removed, transported, cleaned, releaded, and reinstalled without disturbing the surrounding masonry or the adjacent glass. The fact that the group working to restore and preserve Second Presbyterian has reached this stage is a testament to years of fundraising, specialist craftsmanship, and institutional commitment to keeping a South Loop landmark whole.
For residents of the surrounding neighborhood — many of whom live in the high-rises along S. Michigan, S. Indiana, and S. Wabash — Second Presbyterian is a constant visual presence but not always a destination. That's worth reconsidering. The church's interior, with its soaring nave and its collection of windows that reads as a who's-who of the American Arts and Crafts movement, is accessible to visitors and is a genuine world-class cultural experience that doesn't require a museum admission ticket. As the restoration effort continues to hit milestones, the building is quietly becoming more complete — and more worth a visit — than it has been in years.
The South Loop has seen a lot of new construction and new openings in recent years, and the conversation about the neighborhood's identity tends to center on what's being added. But Second Presbyterian is a reminder that the Sloop's character is also built on what has already been here — on a Michigan Avenue streetscape that has been shaping Chicago's south lakefront for over 150 years. A 133-year-old window going back into its frame is, in its own way, as meaningful a neighborhood story as any new restaurant or fitness studio opening.
If you want to see the window for yourself, Second Presbyterian Church welcomes visitors and holds regular worship services. The church's ongoing restoration effort is supported by community donors and preservation advocates — and if you've walked past the building a hundred times without stepping inside, this week's milestone is as good a reason as any to finally do it. Drop your thoughts on Socialhood: have you ever been inside Second Presbyterian? What South Loop landmarks do you think deserve more attention from neighbors and the city alike?
Sources:
1. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/tag/south-loop/