Old St. Patrick's Church
(Old Church Inn)
14 N. 4th Street

The Roman Catholic congregation which built St. Patrick's Church in 1851, was organized in 1849 by Patrick O'Dwyer. When completed, the gothic revival building housed the first Roman Catholic church in St. Charles. This limestone building has not been used as a place of worship since 1912. Although improvements such as electricity were added over the years, the building proved to be inadequate to house the growing congregation. When the new St. Patrick's church was dedicated, the original church and parsonage remained vacant for the next 60 years. Only for a short period during the 1950s did the church serve a purpose: St. Patrick's School used it as classrooms to ease the overflow of students.

By the early 1970s, the property had fallen into disrepair. Laurie and Terry Grove bought the old church when it came on the market in the early 1970s. They planned to make the church into a residence and the parsonage into a business. Due to zoning laws, they were not able to transform the church into a residence, so they decided to establish a restaurant. Once finished, the restaurant, which boasted the original pews as seating and unique decor, offered customers an interesting place to dine.

Since the church was converted into a restaurant, it has had two other owners. In the late 1970s, Sam and Tony Alex bought the restaurant. They ran it until 1992 when they sold it to Brent and Bonny Guynn. In 1996, the Guynns doubled the size of the restaurant by constructing an addition on the back of the old church. Stylistically, the addition resembles the original building due to the use of limestone in its constuction. The expansion, which architect Michael Dixon designed, provided space for a banquet room in the second story and for the Friar's Pub which was located in the basement of the addition. The restaurant closed to the public in the Fall of 1999.

For additional photographs, see these sources, more fully described in the Bibliography.

Celebrating History p 52
St. Charles Illinois p 34
Reflections of St. Charles p 74

Also see...

Millington House

Sources

• Architectural Survey, St. Charles Central District, St. Charles: St. Charles Historic Preservation Commission, 1995.
  
• "New Face Blesses Old Church." Aurora Beacon News 6 March 1977.
  
• Clauter, Hazel. Our Community--St. Charles. 1967.
  
• Haase, Roald. "Spirited Expansion." Kane County Chronicle 10 January 1997, B:10:2.
  
• Pearson, Ruth Ann. Reflections of St. Charles. Elgin: Brethern Press, 1976.
  
• Remen, Karen. "Unique Restaurant Makes Most of Church Atmosphere." St. Charles Chronicle 8 May 1981, Business/People.