For Immediate Release

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

June 14, 2019

Wisconsin Historical Society placed the New Hope Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery on the State Register of Historic Places

Portage County, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the New Hope Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery (Town of New Hope, Portage County) on the State Register of Historic Places on May 17, 2019.

The rural township of New Hope was formally established in 1856, making it one of the oldest in Portage County.  Throughout the town’s early years, its settlers consisted almost entirely of Norwegian immigrants; by 1860, New Hope contained 105 households, all but 6 of which were farmsteads and 83 of which were Norwegian.  As nearly all of the early settlers in New Hope were Norwegian, it was natural that the first religious congregation organized in the township was Lutheran, as Lutheranism had long been the state religion of Norway.  In 1887, the issue of predestination that had split the Lutheran church at an administrative level began to reverberate throughout the New Hope community, resulting in a divided congregation, ultimately leading to a split into two churches.  The larger, breakaway group stayed in the existing church building while the smaller group who remained loyal to the Norwegian Lutheran Synod left to build their own church – the building that is the subject of this nomination.  They built their new church in 1889.

Built in 1889, the beautiful New Hope Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church is an excellent representative of late 19^th and early 20^th century rural ecclesiastical design as represented by its modest, vernacular form; its relatively simple plan focusing on the general form of the building and the organization of its interior spaces; and its modest Gothic Revival detailing, referencing an architectural style traditionally associated with church design.  The building retains an exceptionally high degree of both interior and exterior integrity and is a fine example of the type of rural church building commonly constructed throughout rural Wisconsin communities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin,  visit www.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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