| 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, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History.
1974: POINTED ARCH ENTRY & WINDOWS W/DRIPSTONE LINTELS. DOWNINGESQUE CARPENTER GOTHIC INFLUENCE. LINTEL COURSE. OPEN POINTED ARCH ARCADE. BELFRY IN STEEPLE. Photo code #1 is: GREEN 2/28.
2010: Completed in 1874, this Gothic Revival-style church is dominated by a central steeple and is covered with metal siding. A double-door entrance with a stained-glass tympanum above is located along the primary (east) elevation and rests beneath a tripartite, stained-glass grouping. A single, Gothic-arched window is located to either side of the entrance and along the raised basement and first floors. Basement windows along the side elevations are rectangular examples, while the main level carries a series of Gothic-arched, stained-glass windows.
2010: The subject church was built in 1874 by the Seventh Day Baptist Society, the group of which formed in Walworth in February of 1845. Services were originally held in the “Cobblestone School” southeast of the village; however, from the late 1850s to 1874, the group met at Big Foot Academy (no longer extant). A secondary source indicates that the church was the only meeting place in the village for some time and, therefore, it served as the community’s social center. Following World War II and a notable decrease in society membership, they could no longer maintain the church and services were held in member’s homes. The church and parsonage were ultimately sold to the Christian League for the Handicapped in October 1954 and the subject property became the organization’s national headquarters. Having outgrown the former religious facility, the parcel was sold less than seven years later to Grace Evangelical Free Church, who utilized the church until at least 1987. At that time, it was noted that the church still retained it original pews and pulpit chairs. The former church structure, as well as the building at 211 S. Main Street, has since been sold to Agape House, Inc., and it is utilized as a home and school for girls. The former parsonage, however, is a separate, private residence.11
2024: Resurveyed. Determined not eligible 2011. Board and batten siding since replaced by vinyl/aluminum clapboard. Update photo. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Architecture/History Survey: Reconstruct USH 14: Illinois State Line To I-43.” WHS project number 11-0524/WL. July 2010, rechecked February 2011. Heritage Research, Ltd.
.“Seventh Day Baptists Tied to Early Walworth,” in The Times (Walworth, WI), Sesquicentennial Editions, 7 May 1987, 1/5.
. Sanborn maps confirm the use of 207 S. Main Street as the church parsonage; Fire Insurance Map—Walworth, Wis., 1912, 1926, 1926 updated to 1940. |
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