| Additional Information: | 2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
This Late Gothic Revival-style church complex is comprised of a two-story, brick-clad, Sunday School/Parish Hall unit faced with brick and a 1955 church and parsonage addition faced with brick and finished with cut limestone. Regarding the former, this first unit is the northernmost portion of the complex, north of the stone entrance tower. Finished with a parapet endwall with stone coping, this portion features a tripartite rectangular window with diamond paning on each of the two floors. The north sidewall consists of a one-story, projecting gabled entry that appears to have been added at the time of the 1955 church and parsonage addition. A more recent porte cochere extension extends further to the north. Windows along this north wall are replacements set within original rectangular openings, with the westernmost opening being boarded over.
Although a largely brick-clad tower entrance was included in the 1930 construction, the tower was remodeled in 1955 to serve as the primary entrance to the new church and is now entirely finished with cut stone and includes a belltower. The west wall of the church proper is divided into bays by short pilasters, with each bay carrying a rectangular and tripartite, stained-glass window with tracery. A stone label mold tops each window, while a simple stone sill runs beneath. The south endwall, which is finished with a parapet and stone coping, carries a segmental-arched, stained-glass window with tracery at its center. Rectangular, stained-glass window openings are located to either side, and along the first floor; while the second floor features blind openings infilled with carved stone. Extending from the church block is a hallway that connects to the original parsonage unit, the endwall of which is finished with a parapet with stone coping. Windows within this unit carry rectangular, multiple-light, double-hung sash that are asymmetrically arranged.
Designed by W.C. Weeks, Inc., this church complex was built for the St. John’s Evangelical & Reformed congregation and it achieved its current appearance in 1955. The congregation was formed in 1902 as St. John’s Evangelical Church with thirteen charter members. Initial services were held in an empty store at 1716 Calumet Drive; a new frame church (no longer extant) was built in 1903. Plans for the 1930 Sunday School and Parish Hall unit were underway as of May 1929 and dedication occurred in May 1930. The second and third units, consisting of a new church and parsonage, were to be built once the 1930 unit was paid for and the congregation considered itself financially stable to do so. The Depression interrupted their plans and the final two units were not completed until twenty-five years later, with dedication occurring in September 1955. The previous rectory was moved one lot to the east along Lincoln Street, while the 1902 church was razed in June 1954. In 1950, the congregation was renamed St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church and, seven years later, as St. John’s United Church of Christ (following the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church with the Congregational Christian Church). Following the purchase of a new parsonage at 2721 N. 30th Street, the connected parsonage space was remodeled into additional church facility space, including Sunday School rooms, a pastor’s study, an office for the church secretary, as well as a multi-purpose room for conferences or Sunday School. The subject church continues to serve the St. John’s congregation.
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| Bibliographic References: | LJM Architects, Inc. City of Sheboygan, Wisconsin: Architectural and Historical Intensive Survey Report. City of Sheboygan Historic Preservation Commission & Department of City Development; 2002, 2004 & 2006.
Citations for the 2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
“Sunday School Hall Will Be Built in City,” The Sheboygan Press, 15 May 1929, 6; “New Sunday School Hall Dedicated Here Sunday,” The Sheboygan Press, 31 March 1930, 3; “Sunday Marks Last Service and Start of Fund Campaign,” The Sheboygan Press, 3 June 1954, 3; “St. John’s Evangelical Church Dedication Sunday,” The Sheboygan Press, 22 September 1955, 3; “St. John’s UCC to Observe 65th Anniversary Sunday,” The Sheboygan Press, 3 November 1967, 11; “St. John’s Modernization Project Completed Here,” The Sheboygan Press, 26 April 1968, 9; “Final Report,” 160-161. |
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