| 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 Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
ROUND ARCHED WINDOWS. SQUARE TOWER W/RAIL AROUND FLAT ROOF.
New Information, 10/2023:
Architecture:
The First Presbyterian Church building has a rectangular plan, a steeply pitched roof, clapboard siding, a concrete block foundation, and a square central tower on the main elevation. The side elevations have three round arched openings filled with horizontally divided lights topped with gothic-arched lights. In place of the lowest horizontal panel of each window a slider style window has been installed. Plain moldings surround each opening.
Similar openings flank the tower on the main elevation. The tower has a central entrance that appears to be wood doors topped with a narrow transom. Above the entrance is a tall round-arched opening that is enclosed with plywood. The top of the tower has a belfry with round-arched openings that are filled with louvers on the side elevations and enclosed with plywood on the main elevation. The tower had a spire that has been removed.
Attached to the rear elevation is an annex with large sliding glass doors and paired wooden doors that leads into a lobby that provides access to the church and to the one story education wing that has a raised basement level. The education wing has a low-pitched gable roof with a shallow mansard. The walls are clad with vertical wood boards and there are symmetrical openings along each side wall. These openings were originally filled with tall casements on the first story and shorter casements in the raised basement. In between were wood panels. The windows have been altered with single-light sashes in the first story and smaller sliding windows in the raised basements.
The lobby of the annex has a staircase that leads up to the church section and the first floor of the education wing and down to the church basement and the lower level of the education wing. The church section is an open space that was once the sanctuary. The sanctuary has no religious features but is an open space with carpeting, plaster walls, and no altar fixtures. The church basement has a vinyl tile floor, wood paneled and plaster walls, and a low ceiling. The lower level of the education wing has a large room that features drywall surfaces, carpeting, and a dropped acoustical tile ceiling. The upper level of the education wing features classrooms off of a hallway. The surfaces are covered with drywall, composite flooring, and a tile ceiling.
History:
The First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1878 in Waunakee and in that same year, the congregation erected this building. In 1952, a new basement structure was built under the church to provide it with a meeting hall, kitchen, restroom, and furnace room. In 1962, there was a redecoration of the upper level of the church and the pews were placed. At this time fund raising commenced to make an addition to the church. In the fall of 1968, the education wing and lobby annex was completed. The addition included six classrooms, a pastor’s study, new bathrooms, and a new fellowship hall. At the same time, the sanctuary was remodeled to match the new addition. In 1972, redecoration of the church basement was done and more redecoration of the sanctuary took place in anticipation of the church’s 1978 centennial. The church building continued to be used until 1994, when the congregation left it for a new building at a new site in Waunakee.
(2023 Carol Cartwright)
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| Bibliographic References: | “History of the First United Presbyterian Church, 18780-1978, Waunakee, Wisconsin,” in First United Presbyterian Church Centennial Observances and History 1878-1978,” pamphlet published by the church.
First Presbyterian Church of Waunakee website, myfpc.org/our-history/ |
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