St. Augustine Church Listed in the State Register of Historic Places
For Immediate Release
St. Augustine Church in the Town of New Diggings, Lafayette County, Wisconsin
March 4, 2020
Town of New Diggings, Wisconsin - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the St. Augustine Church (Town of New Diggings, Lafayette County) in the State Register of Historic Places on Feb. 14, 2020. State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presented a certificate to Grant Emmel.
State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presented a certificate to Grant Emmel.
St. Augustine Church is an exceptionally elegant and rare example of Greek Revival style architecture from 1844. The front-facing gable with its weighty cornice returns, large full height corner pilasters and decorated raking cornice give the church a temple-like appearance. The architect and builder, Father Mazzuchelli, utilized eight Gothic-arched windows and a pair of Gothic-arched doors instead of the traditional rectangular elements commonly used in Greek Revival, to identify this building as a church.
Father Mazzuchelli was born in Italy in 1806. After deciding to become a Catholic priest and receiving education in Rome, he was sent to the American frontier. He arrived in the Michigan Territory in 1830, becoming the first continuing clergy since the departure of the Jesuit priests in 1728. In both the Territory of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin, Father Mazzuchelli ministered to the native Indian tribes who lived there. He learned their languages and culture; ministered to the Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee; and translated the liturgy into their native tongues, publishing the Menominee Almanac and the Winnebago Prayer book.
Over his thirty-four-year ministry, Father Mazzuchelli founded 30 parishes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa and built over 24 churches. In the case of many of these churches, Father Mazzuchelli was the architect, the fundraiser and carpenter. Much of the text of Father Mazzuchelli’s memoirs, published in 1844, contains the historical knowledge of early Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois that may, if not for his writings, have been lost and never recorded. Father Mazzuchelli has attained the first step toward Sainthood and his record of accomplishments and miracles are continuing to be reviewed at the Vatican in Rome.
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.