| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation.
DESCRIPTION
Rock-faced coursed limestone is the primary material of |his Gothic Revival church. The three-bay front facade is topped by a central squaretower with an eight sided spire. Stone butresses frame the pointed arch of the cental entrance. A tall stain glass lancet window located in the center of each side bay. Gothic-style carved stone ornaments the entry. A stone bearing the inscription "1884" is found above the door, and above the pair of smaller lancet windows. These windows and the oculus above them also contain stain glass designs. Dividing the tower from the main portion of the church are three bands of smooth-faced ashlar. Each side of the square body of the tower contains an opening with a pointed arch inside which is a pair of smaller, similarly shaped opening; all are filled by wooden ventilating louvers. The spire begins with four triangular, gable dormers-one on each side-each with a small window. Above thesethe eight sides of the rise steeply. The spire is ornamented with pattered shingles and four tiny lancet windows inside gable dormers whih occure near the steple's mid-point. The spire is crowned by a pointed knob and a cross.
Five sides of an octagonal apse protrude from the rear of the building. Fromthe south side of the apse is attached a gable entrance bay, to which another, larger addition has been made. The addition is of compatible materials and style.
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE
Of three Gothic Revial churches in Mequon (all called Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church) the one in Freisadt is the most architecturallly significant. One of a very few buildings to have been built there by a know architect before the turn of the century, it was designed in 1884 by the Milwaukee architect Frederick Velguth.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
In 1839 a group of settlers arrived in Mequon. They were Lutherns seeking freedom from the religious tyranny of the Prussia king, Frederick William III. These settlers pechase land in sections 17, 18, 19, and 20; range 21. Their setlement was centered on the intersection of hese four sections (were currently the soutg part of Granville Road meets Freistadt Road). In the notheastern corner of section 17 (southwest corner of the intersection), Land was set aside for the construction of the church. This church was the first Lutheran church in Wisconsin.
The Freistadt settlers were among the earlist Lutherans to come to the United States, and some of the first Germans in Wisconsin. There success at Freistadt encouraged others to follow them to Wisconsin, and was at least in part a a contributing factor to the eventual large german population in Mequon.
The current church , built in 1884, is the fouth to be built by the congergation. Nothing remains of the first three structures. The first, a tweinty by thirty foot log structure built in 1894 near where the moved Vauk now stands. The secod, dating from 1845, was a brick and timber fachwerk structure located in the southern cemetery, less that 1/4 mile south of the present church. Rev. L.F.E. Krause's description of the construction of this building is a valuable resource for those wishing to study this construction method. A third structure was located just north of the current church.
The importance of this building lies in its association with the history of the Lutheran religion in the United States, and in Wisconsin in particularly. Its history of th e significance qualifies it as a land mark regardless of its relgious associations.
POINTED ARCH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. STEEPLY PITCHED PAVILION ROOFED SPIRE W/DORMERS. OLDEST LUTHERAN CONGREGATION IN WISCONSIN. A 1/2 TIMBER CHURCH ON SITE WAS DESTROYED BY 1870 FIRE. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [a] Plat Maps for the city of Mequon, 1867-1980, on file at the Mequon Historical Society, Mequon, Wisconsin, or the Archives at the State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.
[b] Tax Rolls for the city of Mequon, 1857-1930, on file at the library, Mequon, Wisconsin.
[c] Field observation based on architectural and historical information.
[d] Information from the owner of the property.
[e] Information from the building's datestone or inscription.
[f] Freistadt Historical Society, Freistadt and the Lutheram Immigration, Mequom: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1989.
[g] L. Rehm, Mequon History, on file at the Mequon Historical Society, Mequon, Wisconsin.
[h] C.W. Butterfield, History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties, Chicago: Western Publishing Company, 1880.
[i] Information from the Mequon Landmarks Commission, Mequon, Wisconsin.
ZIMMERMANN, RUSSELL "THE HERITAGE GUIDEBOOK" (HERITAGE BANKS 1976).
STONE.
CEDARBURG OZAUKEE COUNTY NEWS GRAPHIC 8/10/1995. |
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