St. Peter’s in the Loop celebrates 175th anniversary

A drawing of the first St. Peter church in 1846. (Photo provided)

St. Peter's at Clark and Polk in 1865. (Photo provided)

Interior construction of present-day church. (Photo provided)

Construction of the crucifix on the exterior or the church. (Photo provided)

The crucifix in present day. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

The interior of St. Peter’s during Advent 2017. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Catholics flooded St. Peter's Church in the Loop to get ashes to mark the beginning of Lent on Feb. 16, 2010. The downtown parish gets from 25,000 -30,000 faithful each year on Ash Wednesday. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Ash Wednesday 2010. St. Peter’s began in 1846 the way many Chicago parishes did: members of an ethnic group, in this case, Germans, petitioned the bishop for a parish or parishes of their own. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Laypeople and priests distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday 2010. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Then-Archbishop Cupich celebrates Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Peter’s on Feb. 18, 2015. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Father Kurt Hartrich distributes ashes in the chapel at St. Peter’s in the Loop on Dec. 11, 2017. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)