Property Record
E CHURCH RD, .2 M W OF HILLSIDE RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | FIRST EAST KOSHKONONG LUTHERAN CHURCH |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | EAST KOSHKONONG LUTHERAN CHURCH |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 4743 |
| Location (Address): | E CHURCH RD, .2 M W OF HILLSIDE RD |
|---|---|
| County: | Dane |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Christiana |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 6 |
| Range: | 12 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 26 |
| Quarter Section: | SW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SW |
| Year Built: | 1893 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1979 |
| Historic Use: | church |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | OLE GUNNELSON VINDEG |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. ROUND ARCHED WINDOWS AND DOORS. RED AND YELLOW BRICK AND SHINGLE EXTERIOR. The late 1830s and 1840s witnessed an exodus of emigrants from Norway to the United States, mostly to southern Wisconsin. (This town took its name from Norway’s capital, which was later renamed Oslo.) Anxious to keep the emigrants in the fold, the State Church of Norway sent Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson to America to establish a church. Dietrichson thus founded the Norwegian Synod in Koshkonong, an area of eastern Dane County that had grown into the largest Norwegian settlement in America. He established two parishes, east and west, located several miles apart. In 1852 and 1858, both parishes erected new buildings. In the 1880s, a schism developed. Those who believed in the doctrine of election, or predestination, broke away from both congregations. In 1893, the believers in predestination within the eastern parish built this church only a few yards west of its parish rival. In 1961, the churches reunited, and this leftover building became a museum. Ole Gunnulson, the son of a pioneer settler, designed the polychromatic church in an eclectic Queen Anne design. Among its attractive details are the arcades of round-arched windows outlined with a continuous band of red brick, elaborate gable ends covered by wooden shingles in a rich variety of patterns, and large semi-elliptical windows in the gable ends with lace-like tracery, leaded glass, and a pronounced corbeled sill. At the junction of two wings rises an angled four-stage steeple with narrow arches, patterned shingles, a round-arched belfry, and an octagonal spire. |
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| Bibliographic References: | GOULD "HISTORIC PLACES IN DANE CO" (1981). WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 11/6/1994, P. 3J. MINDE FRA JUBELFESTERNE PAA KOSHKONONG. HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY, 1880. WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL 10/8/1994. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |