Along the Old Chicago Road

Recently little Nick and I went out and on the advice of a friend took the Old Chicago Road which runs out of LaMoille. Along the route we came across not one but Two markers for former church's. The first, the Knox Grove Evangelical church, had nothing but a weather beaten sign to mark where it once stood, not even a foundation remained as it appears to have been turned into agricultural use.

We had more luck with the second location, the site of the former St. Paul's Evangelical church. There we found the original cemetery, a nice wrought iron gated fence and a small building. There's a really nice polished granite marker there with a bas-relief picture of the church in its heyday. This cemetery unlike others we've seen is well kept and appears to be looked after.  As for the small building we heard several opinions what it was used for. A church school? A small chapel for the cemetery? A caretakers house? or...?

Many thanks to Mary Lee Twidell for suggesting the trip as well as providing the period photographs. One shows the church under construction, another shows the pastor, Reverend Leinhart circa 1922, the 3rd shows a confirmation class from the late 1930's. Can you spot Mary Lee's mother? Hint: She's the pretty one!