Zion Chapter House

Illinois, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Located at 2715 Emmaus Avenue in Zion, Illinois, the Zion Chapter House is a Prairie School masterpiece built between 1909 and 1910 by the St. Louis firm Helfensteller, Hirsch & Watson. Originally constructed as a meetinghouse for Zion's chapter of the American Woman's League—a political and social organization founded in 1908 by magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis to promote feminist causes and women's suffrage—the building represents a Class II design intended for clubs of 60 to 100 members. The structure cost $2,500 and was one of five classes of buildings the architects designed for League chapters nationwide. After the organization disbanded, the building was repurposed as a private residence. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and remains one of nine American Woman's League chapter houses listed in the register across Illinois.