Explore Elgin!

Join the Forest Park District Howard Mohr Community Center for our Explore Elgin Tour!  Our timeline will stretch from the 1830's French Fox River Valley explorers to our current day. We will see three churches and the Elgin Historical Society’s Nancy Kimball Cobblestone Home. Coffee and a snack and this early-entry opportunity prior to final restoration.  We will also visit St Laurence, which was dedicated in 1930, St Joseph Church, “a vigorous German off-shoot of St Mary’s”, and St Mary’s, the oldest Catholic Church in Elgin. St Mary's, founded in 1845 in a European style,  has the distinction of having the body of the priest who began its construction interred in it.

Our guide, Michael J Murschel, has published extensively in the areas of spirituality, sacred arts, architecture, tradition, and culture. Michael is a Benedictine Oblate with Marmion Abbey, a member of Spiritual Directors International, the Coalition of Elgin Religious Leaders. He is dynamically engaged in communicating the historical and cultural underpinnings of his hometown, Elgin, through writing and speaking engagements.

Participants must  join this tour through our partnering organization by calling the Forest Park District Howard Mohr Community Center at 708-771-7737.  The RSVP ticket here informs us of your interest in pariticipating but does not finalize registration.  Cost, transportation  and post-tour luncheon details can be found through the Forest Park District Howard Mohr Community Center. We look forward to hosting you!