Zion City (Ill.) Images, circa 1900

This collection consists of three images relating to Zion City, Illinois. The images include two photographs and one advertisement, and all three images are undated but were likely created around 1900.

Zion City, Illinois, was established as a utopian religious community by the minister John Alexander Dowie in 1901. Dowie was the founder of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church and created the city of Zion as a refuge for his congregation as a place which would be free from American social problems like gambling and alcohol consumption. Wilbur Glenn Voliva assumed leadership of the church and community in 1907 following the death of Dowie.

The collection includes two photographs and one advertisement relating to Zion City. The advertisement shows some of the independent businesses located in Zion including the Zion Lace Industry Building. One photograph shows workers dismantling a sign for the city limits. The other photograph shows six men standing in front of a completed billboard.

This collection was purchased by the Library in 2025.