For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara O’Keeffe
608-261-9596
kara.okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org

December 11, 2018

The St. Peter's Catholic School Listed in National Register of Historic Places

Eagle River, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society has announced the listing of the St. Peter’s Catholic School in Eagle River, Vilas County, in the National Register of Historic Places. National Register designation provides access to certain benefits, including qualification for grants and for rehabilitation income tax credits, while it does not restrict private property owners in the use of their property.

St. Peter’s Catholic School was designed by Wisconsin Rapids architect Anton F. Billmeyer and opened in 1926.  The school offered an elementary education coupled with religious instruction to the families in Eagle River and the surrounding area.  St. Peter’s School is significant to the history of education as one of only four total schools in the County offering elementary education.  This school was also significantly larger than the other three, and continued as a school, in some cases, decades longer than the others.    

The era of school consolidation meant the closure of rural one-room schools which brought children into town to attend school.  The construction of graded schools met this demand and St. Peter’s School, one of the largest graded schools in the County continued in active use through 2004, far outpacing the longevity of the other historic period graded schools.  The St. Peter’s parish, which prioritized religion-based instruction, provided a high-quality education at St. Peter’s School for the families of the County.  

The register is the official national list of historic properties in America deemed worthy of preservation and is maintained by the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Wisconsin Historical Society administers the program within Wisconsin. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts that are significant in national, state or local history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visitwww.wisconsinhistory.org.

About Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.

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