Property Record
615 BROADWAY
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | First Methodist Episcopal Church |
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| Other Name: | First United Methodist Church |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 94714 |
| Location (Address): | 615 BROADWAY |
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| County: | Sauk |
| City: | Baraboo |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1898 |
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| Additions: | 1991 |
| Survey Date: | 19892014 |
| Historic Use: | church |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Palmer; Bowen and Lake |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Downtown Baraboo Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/8/2015 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/15/2014 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | The Baraboo Methodist congregation was established in 1842 and constructed the first non-extant Methodist wood frame church in 1853 at the southeast corner of Broadway Street and 5th Avenue. In 1866 this church building was expanded and a bell tower added and a non-extant parsonage was constructed. In 1898, a new church building was constructed at the corner of Broadway Street and 4th Avenue for the First Methodist Episcopal Church congregation. Constructed by Bowen & Lake for $17,000, the red brick Romanesque church has a stone foundation, arched fenestration, stained glass windows including a large oculus facing Broadway Street, a bell tower at the corner entry, and steeply pitched roofs. A non-extant parsonage was constructed the following year in an adjacent lot along 4th Avenue. A new bell, weighing over 800 pounds and over 40 inches in diameter, was presented to the church by a member of the congregation in 1908. In 1912, the South Side Methodist Church, established in 1885, merged with the north side congregation and formed the First Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1933, the German Methodist Episcopalian Church also merged, joining the church at 615 Broadway Street. The congregation is now called the First United Methodist Church and still occupies the building. In 1972, the non-extant parsonage was demolished and a new parsonage, located at 405 14th Avenue, was constructed. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Baraboo Weekly News, November 11, 1908. City of Baraboo Directory records on file with the Sauk County Historical Society. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1885, 1892, 1898, 1904, 1913, and 1927. On file at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Ward, Joseph Wayne. Baraboo, 1850-2010, Vols. III-IV: Chronology of the Growth of the Commercial & Retail Districts. Self-published, 2013. Wolter, Paul. Notes collected for tours of Downtown Baraboo. Multiple dates. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |