2015 38th Annual Galesburg Railroad Days

Posted on by centralcong

Hundreds of visitors from the Galesburg area (as well as from several different states) stopped by Central Congregational to experience living history, listen to some great singing, enjoy lunch, and tour our historic building. While it was a lot of work, it was great fun to host these activities as part of Railroad Days.  A special thanks goes to our many friends from the community at large who really pulled together to make this event happen.

Leading up to Railroad Days, an article appeared in the Galesburg Register-Mail highlighting one of our featured events, an appearance of Harriet Tubman as portrayed by Kathryn Harris.  Click here to read the complete story.

A wonderful photo gallery of the days events can be found on our Photo Archives page, or you can click here to go directly to the Railroad Days gallery.

2015 Zephyr Quest

Posted on by centralcong

On June 1, about 80 seventh grade students from Lombard Middle School came to visit Central Congregational as part of Zephyr Quest.  For most, it was their first time to visit our beautiful building and there were many “oohs” and “aahs” throughout their tour.  Their guide was “Mary Allen West” as portrayed by Gail Masinda.

We received the following note of thanks:

“Thanks for helping in contributing to our first ever Zephyr Quest [to make it] a big success.  We enjoyed learning the history of the church and its ties to the early settlers of Galesburg.  We hope this brings attention to the immediate need to preserve the church so others may enjoy it’s beautiful architecture.

Lombard 7th Grade”

Additional information about the 2015 Zephyr Quest can be found here.  A photo gallery from the event can be found here.

Central and Zephyr Quest

Posted on by centralcong

There is certainly a lot of history to share from Central!  Students from Lombard Middle School will be making a stop at Central as part of their Zephyr Quest. We’re delighted to be a part of this project, and have the students ‘meet’ Mary Allen West while they are visiting.  😉

http://www.galesburg.com/article/20150529/NEWS/150529754/1997/NEWS

New Page Added – Lantern Slides!

Posted on by centralcong

We found another treasure!  It is a box of old glass lantern slides, not too many pictures, but some great ones.  It is unusual to find a photo of the Old First Church next to a photo of the Brick Church/Beecher Chapel next to a photo of Central Congregational.  The view of the interior of Old First is especially interesting…and rare.  You will find the new page under History->Photo Archives->Lantern Slides, or you can just click here.