Our Historic Home

Unity Church, the forerunner of our current congregation, was founded on January 25, 1871. A year later, members built a traditional Gothic Revival church, guided by liberal values and a commitment to independent thought.

Among our early leaders was Augusta Chapin, a pioneering Universalist minister and longtime friend of Anna Jones Wright—the mother of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Under Chapin and later Dr. Rodney Johonnot, the congregation grew in both spirit and size. Dr. Johonnot wisely proposed starting a building fund, which would prove prescient.

On June 6, 1905, lightning struck our wood-framed church. By morning, it had burned to the ground.

A Bold New Vision

The very next day, Frank Lloyd Wright offered to design a new home for the congregation. His proposal broke nearly every convention of church architecture: no steeple, no front entrance, and an innovative use of reinforced concrete—then an untested material for public buildings.

Though originally budgeted at $40,000 and scheduled to finish in 1906, the bold design, construction challenges, and Wright’s evolving vision delayed completion. Unity Temple was finally dedicated on September 26, 1909. At its dedication, the Board of Trustees called it “a masterpiece of art and architecture.”

A Global Legacy

Today, Unity Temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, one of only eight Wright buildings worldwide to receive this honor. UNESCO—the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—maintains the World Heritage list to recognize places of outstanding cultural or natural significance to humanity.

Unity Temple earned this distinction for its groundbreaking design, integration of form and function, and lasting impact on modern architecture. More than just an architectural marvel, Wright’s design reflects core Unitarian Universalist values—dignity, reason, community, and spiritual unity. It stands as a living symbol of democratic design and shared human connection.