Cal. Ave. Cong. Church

Sepia tone photograph of a church building over an illustration of a banner with brown text on it

California Avenue Congregational Church stood at 101 S. California Avenue at the corner of Monroe Street. The congregation was founded in 1883 and built the church shown here in 1887. Although thriving for years, the church found it difficult to maintain a congregation as, “foreigners and Roman Catholics moved in.” In 1918, they formed a federation with Monroe Street Church of Christ (one block West at Monroe and Francisco) to form Monroe Street Federated Church. Under that arrangement, Sunday services were held at the California Avenue site while weekday services and social events were held at the Monroe Street site. The congregation seems to have lasted until 1935. The building demolition date is unknown at this time.