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parishioners living in Gano complained about the great difficulty of
traveling to church over the frequently muddy unpaved roads. The new
congregation initially met in a meeting hall and then in a Methodist
Church. In 1892, four lots of land were purchased for a new church. The
property was bounded north and south by 116th and 117th Streets, and
east and west by Clark and Perry Streets. By October 1892 they had built
a church, a parsonage, and a horse barn. But in April 1893 the church was
struck by lightning and burned to the ground. With great devotion and
determination, the congregation completed a new church in October
1893. A lightning rod on the steeple now protected the church.
Photographs of the Roseland business district show it was also protected
by a number of tall lightning rods.

The church was recorded under differing addresses. During 1909 many
addresses were revised in a realignment of street names and numbers.
When Chicago expanded, it inherited addresses that were inconsistent or
repetitive. For example, the church's location was originally given as
111th and Clark, but the number address was 11623 South Clark Street.
In the South-Suburban region, most of the numerical east-west streets
were later assigned new names or numbers.

The church membership grew rapidly from 31 charter members in 1891,
to 185 members in 1895. How much it grew under Rev. Poot's leadership
is uncertain, but by 1906 the congregation's size peaked at 600 members.
The official church history records Rev. J.W. Poot as "a powerful preacher"
and stated "many young people made confession of faith during his
pastorate."

Most of the residents in the Gano neighborhood were Dutch immigrants
from Friesland. Many worked as farmers although some worked at the
nearby train stations in Kensington. The sermons and church records
were in Dutch until 1928. J.W. Poot served the Gano Church from March
1896 until April 1898. He was followed by Rev. Peter A. Bouma who
served 1898-1903. In 1972 the church merged with Trinity Church to
create the United Reformed Church. The church disbanded in 1977.

Gano was a small farming suburb on the far south side of Chicago, about
13-15 miles south of the downtown "loop". It remained surprisingly rural
in character into the 1920s and 1930s. The main streets resembled those
of a small city, but many side streets passed through nothing but empty
fields and small farms. Like other Dutch neighborhoods it was clean and
neatly organized. Community pride demanded that their churches and
other buildings be well constructed.

The old neighborhood name of Gano has faded into history. Gano was
located on the south side of Roseland and is now grouped into Roseland.
This general area is known as South Suburban Chicago. The older and
more industrialized Calumet Lake and Calumet River were a short distance

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