People first gathered to worship at Christ Church in 1863, when the
locality was known as Harlem. Services were held in an old brick
school at Lake & Park, a then unincorporated area of the Village
known as the Steele Tract. The Steele family donated land at what
is now the northeast corner of Lake & Bonnie Brae, and a frame
church was built in 1865. By the 1880's, the neighborhood had
become crowded with saloons, and it was decided to establish a new
parish in then tavern-free, neighboring Oak Park. Parishioners
dissolved the parish, joined with a group from Oak Park, and
founded Grace Episcopal Church.
Residents eventually wanted a parish of their own and revived Christ
Church in 1923. The abandoned Steele Tract church had passed into
private ownership and was later demolished. The congregation met
in the River Forest Women's Club. Ground was broken later that
year for the present building. It was consecrated on October 3, 1926,
by The Rt. Rev. Charles P. Anderson, 4th Bishop of Chicago. The
tower bell, steeple cross, and other wrought-iron ornaments from the
old Steele Tract church and the bishop's chair were given to the new
congregation. The tower bell now sits on the front landing. The
steeple cross is mounted on the southwest wall of the nave. The
bishop's chair is in the sanctuary.
Christ Church was designed by Chicago architect Norman Brydges
to serve as the chapel on a much larger church campus. The Great
Depression and World War II disrupted this plan, and the rest of the
complex was never built. In the mid-1950's, a vestry room and
parish hall were added to the north side of the nave, the choir and
organ were moved from the sanctuary to the loft above the main
entrance, and the cathedral chairs were replaced with pews. The
three-rank pipe organ was installed in 1985.