Pacific Garden Mission, 1980

The oldest surviving and most visible Chicago rescue mission, the Pacific Garden Mission was founded in 1877 by George and Sarah Clarke in order to “keep crooked men straight.” Located in the South Loop in the middle of “Whiskey Row,” the mission took its name from a former tenant, the notorious Pacific Beer Garden.

The mission has always coupled a simple evangelical Christian message with social outreach to the downtrodden, leading some to dub it the “Hobo Church.” It has provided food, clothing, and the gospel to generations of Chicagoans. The famous “baseball evangelist,” Billy Sunday, was saved at the mission's doors.

A “harbor for wrecked and ruined lives” throughout the twentieth century, the mission added in 1950 a radio program, Unshackled! which reaches more than a thousand stations worldwide with sentimental stories of ruin and redemption. A bright neon cross proclaiming “Jesus Saves” still pierces the night sky, announcing the mission's continuing ministry to Chicago's poor.

R. Jonathan Moore