Memorial Washington Reformed Presbyterian Church is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in Elgin,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It was built in 1844, but has not had regular service since 1906. Due to the infrequency of services, the church earned the moniker The Once-A-Year Church. The simple,

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

church building 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 v ...

in 1980.

History

The church building was designed by William and Daniel Fraser, who modeled it after a church they previously attended in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was built in 1844 by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and Scots-Irish immigrants, many of which became the church's first members. The church last held regular services on September 9, 1906. Descendants of the early church members organized a committee in 1916 to oversee the care of the church and its adjacent cemetery. This organization holds the only services in the building, a once-a-year gathering of its members every June. This unusual trait earned the church the nickname "The Once-A-Year Church". The church building was added to the

on November 19, 1980.Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
/ref> The building is rectangular and . The church was originally laid on a wooden foundation; the present stone foundation dates to the 1860s. It is best described as a

building. The east and west facades each feature three double

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s with green shutters. The main entrance is on the south, flanked by

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The double doorway features a standard wooden

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

, above which is a carved sundial. The south facade also features two windows similar to those on the east and west. The north side features no windows. The inside features one room with its original unfinished wooden floor. The pews and

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

are also original. A bronze memorial tablet was added near the entrance in 1924.

References

{{reflist Churches completed in 1844 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Kane County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Illinois Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Scottish-American culture in Illinois Scotch-Irish American history Churches in Kane County, Illinois