First Congregational Church of Dundee

Nine people gathered in a small schoolhouse 165 years ago in Dundee, Illinois to worship. They formed the First Congregational Church, which eventually grew into a large brick building on Main Street complete with two sets of cathedral-style windows, provided by the financial assistance of several families in the congregation.

Last spring, the church decided it needed to build a new facility and began construction on Illinois Route 31. Now nearing completion, the structure combines modern design with traditional touches; the cathedral windows made the move from the old building to the new structure and a new copper-plated steeple is a reminder of what many of the other century-old church steeples in Dundee and Elgin looked like when they were new.

These photos were taken about a half hour after sunset last evening. The frenzy of activity from day-after-Thanksgiving shopping had subsided, the smell of burning leaves hung thickly in the air. This is one solution to finding photographic subjects in the in-between days of late autumn and early winter – find an interesting building at an interesting time of day.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photographs © 2006 James Jordan.