Capturing Mooseheart: The Historic Beauty of the Landmark Campus in Batavia, Illinois.

Drew Pertl
Oct 31
3 min read

History of Mooseheart

Nestled along Route 31 in Batavia, Illinois, Mooseheart Child City & School is a place rich with history and heart. Founded in 1913 by the Loyal Order of Moose, this 1,000-acre campus was built as a home and school for children and teens in need — a true “Child City.”

Over the past century, it has grown into a self-sustaining community complete with residences, schools, a chapel, and gathering spaces, all designed with a timeless architectural charm that reflects the organization’s deep commitment to family and service.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph several of Mooseheart’s most iconic buildings, including the Campanile Clocktower and the House of God Chapel. Each structure tells a piece of the larger story — from the early 20th-century craftsmanship to the enduring mission of providing care, education, and hope to generations of children.

As a photographer, I was drawn to unique architecture and history of the campus as well as the quiet beauty of a place built entirely around compassion and community. It was an honor to help document these historic landmarks so that future generations can continue to appreciate the legacy of Mooseheart and the lives it has touched.

The Campanile Clock Tower

The Campanile Clock Tower at Mooseheart in Batavia, Illinois, is one of the campus’s most iconic landmarks. Completed in 1922, the tower was built as both a functional clock and a memorial honoring the founders and mission of Mooseheart Child City & School. Rising prominently above the grounds, its classical design features a tall stone shaft with clock faces on each side and a small lantern structure crowning the top. A graceful colonnade surrounds the base, creating a formal plaza that adds to its architectural beauty. Serving as a symbol of hope and heritage, the Campanile stands as a timeless centerpiece of the Mooseheart campus — a visual reminder of more than a century of care, education, and community.

The House of God Chapel

The House of God at Mooseheart in Batavia, Illinois.

The House of God at Mooseheart Child City & School in Batavia, Illinois, is a striking, multi-denominational chapel constructed between 1948 and 1950 as part of a long-term campus building campaign.

With its monumental scale and evocative architectural detailing, the House of God serves as a central spiritual and communal anchor for the campus. Designed to welcome people of all faiths, the interior features expansive worship space, refined finishes, and rich symbolic elements—its form and presence underscore the institution’s mission of care, hope and community.

Inside the House of God at Mooseheart in Batavia, Illinois.

The New York House

The New York House (often referred to historically as the “New York Reception Building” and part of Mooseheart’s New York-Village grouping) is a stately residence on the campus designed to serve children from the sponsoring lodges of New York. With its symmetrical façade, central columned portico, and classic dormitory-scale wings, the building reads like an early-20th‐century institutional “home” with domestic touches. Its architecture reflects a blend of formal civic dignity and residential scale — conveying both permanence and care. For your photography, note the crisp lines of the roof-dormers, the formal entry staircase, and the human scale of the windows, which help place the building in its use-as‐home context rather than pure institutional dormitory.

The Pennsylvania House

The Pennsylvania House — or more precisely the “Pennsylvania Home” dedicated in 1958 was consciously designed to evoke historic American architecture, specifically modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Its role was to serve children from or sponsored by lodges of Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. Architecturally distinctive, the Pennsylvania Home presents a formal elevation, brick façade, clock-tower/mansard roof element (in the original model), and a prominent entry that signals both civic gravitas and the nurturing mission of Mooseheart. In photographs, look for the vertical emphasis of the central pavilion and the symmetry of window bays — elements that reinforce the building’s design inspiration and its role as a landmark residence on campus.