St. Mark's Lion Traditional Cache

This is a very easy and family-friendly cache located in historic downtown Geneva, IL. Cache is a Tupperware container - there is room for trinkets and Travel Bugs. Please be respectful of the area when retrieving the cache. Permission to place the cache has been given by this location's Rector, who is a geocacher himself.

Original cache contents:

• Lion of St. Mark Travel Bug
• Cross stone
• Episcopal shield pin
• Tiny coloring book & crayons
• Episcopal window clings
• Glow-in-the-dark super balls
• Beautiful Hands of a Priest Holy Card
• Stickers
• Special First-Finders prize!

St. Mark's Church traces its history to Geneva's first settlers, Charity and James Herrington. During the 1830's, the first Episcopal services were held in their log cabin near what is now First and State Streets in Geneva. In 1844, an Episcopal parochial organization was formed in Geneva. Services were held at the site of the old Kane County Court House. In January of 1868, a concentrated effort was made to raise the $4000 needed to build a church. This English Gothic style building is the present-day chapel found on these grounds. The building was designed at the height of the Gothic Revival architecture's popularity, the steeply pitched roof being characteristic of this form. Standing outside, your attention is drawn to the three-tiered medieval tower at the entrance. The belfry holds the original bell, which was cast in England. Complementing the roof are long, narrow windows, which are divided into two lancet shapes by mullions (the vertical strips dividing the panes). Hood moldings made of limestone cap the windows as well as the entry. The church is built of the local, inexpensive river stone that was used so frequently in Geneva buildings of the era.