Holy Family Church

Built in 1857 and dedicated in 1860, Holy Family Church is the second-oldest Catholic church still standing in Chicago and one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Its founder, Father Arnold Damen, is said to have prayed for the church's protection during the fire; some credit that prayer with sparing the building and the surrounding neighborhood. Damen died in 1890, and parishioners have long reported seeing a figure in clerical attire — believed to be Damen himself — still moving through the church and the nearby school he also founded. Others describe a separate white apparition seen inside the church.