The First Congregational Church of LaMoille is a historic church located at 94 Franklin Street in

La Moille, Illinois La Moille is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 679 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. La Moille was named after the Lamoille River valley, in Vermont. History La ...

, United States. The building was constructed in 1867 for La Moille's

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

church, which was established by

Owen Lovejoy Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. After his brother Elijah Lo ...

in 1840. The church was designed in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

style, which was growing in popularity at the time. Its design features tall arched windows, a tower atop the main entrance, decorative

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s at the corners, and corbelling along the front cornice. The church originally included several Gothic Revival features as well, such as a spire

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

and pinnacles, but these fell into disrepair and were removed. The church was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on February 16, 1996.

References

Congregational churches in Illinois Churches completed in 1867 Buildings and structures in Bureau County, Illinois Italianate architecture in Illinois Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Bureau County, Illinois Italianate church buildings in the United States {{Illinois-church-stub