According to the records we've obtained, Thomas Coyne and Nora ("Honor") King (my paternal grandmother's parents) were married at St. Dominic's Church at 357 W. Locust on the North Side of Chicago in 1912. St. Dominic's was built in 1904 but closed in 1990. I drove by it this morning and found it in a dilapidated condition - all boarded up and vacant without a trace of its history of a thriving parish of the Italian-Irish working community of the early 20th century. All of the stained glass windows have been removed and vines and rogue trees have taken over the outside, yet the building remains an ominous presence in the otherwise vacant landscape: it's dark brick facade and parallel bell towers stand as the sole remnants of the neighborhood that Thomas Coyne and Nora King once inhabited.
An online search turned up a 1916 "souvenir" book of the Archdiocese of Chicago that features pictures and short descriptions of all of Chicago's churches as of 1916. The book, in its entirety, is available for free download by clicking HERE. I have also excerpted the description and picture of St. Dominic's below.
Here are some current images of St. Dominic's, courtesy of the Street-View feature of Google Maps.
An online search turned up a 1916 "souvenir" book of the Archdiocese of Chicago that features pictures and short descriptions of all of Chicago's churches as of 1916. The book, in its entirety, is available for free download by clicking HERE. I have also excerpted the description and picture of St. Dominic's below.
Here are some current images of St. Dominic's, courtesy of the Street-View feature of Google Maps.
