Property Record
126 CHAPEL TERRACE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | CROSS EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | No |
| Reference Number: | 221129 |
| Location (Address): | 126 CHAPEL TERRACE |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | Burlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
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| Year Built: | 1962 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | STADE & ASSOCIATES (ARCHITECT) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | N |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A group known as the German Evangelical Lutheran Society withdrew from St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1883. Plans were laid out at once for construction of a new church on land purchased for $1,000 at the corner of Perkins Boulevard and Jefferson Street. A stone house at that location was used as a parsonage. The church at 232 N. Perkins Boulevard was completed that fall and the congregation became known as Holy Cross Lutheran Church. During the fall of 1889, the church’s steeple was destroyed by lighting and soon replaced. The following year, a new bell was installed. While originally a German-speaking congregation, there was a gradually increasing demand for more English preaching until eventually German services were eliminated. By 1939, Holy Cross began using the church strictly for Sunday school classes when the former Luther Hall had been converted into a new sanctuary. After this, the original Holy Cross church building was then referred to as Luther Hall. Holy Cross acquired the former Burlington Free Church in 1923 and renovated it, including a new basement in 1928. Used to house Sunday school and organization meetings, it became known as Luther Hall. A larger worship space was needed by 1939, so Holy Cross renovated the building back into a sanctuary and began holding its services there. The exterior was extensively renovated, including cladding the exterior in stucco and constructing a Colonial Revival style steeple and entrance tower that housed a bell cast in Germany. At this time, the old Holy Cross Lutheran Church was then referred to as Luther Hall. As a plan for future growth in 1947, the congregation purchased the house immediately east of the church at 108 E. Jefferson Street to be used as a parsonage and eventually as Sunday school rooms. The Sunday school renovations were completed in 1950 and that building became known to the congregation as the Annex. It became clear that a permanent building planning committee was needed for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, and one was organized in 1955. Five years later, the congregation decided to relocate to another site rather than expanding their facilities at Kane and Jefferson Streets, which were subsequently sold. In 1959, Holy Cross purchased 5 acres of land on the east side of the city. The following year a new church was designed by the architectural firm Stade & Associates of Park Ridge, Illinois; construction began in 1962 and was completed within one year. The congregation was renamed Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church. Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church is located at 126 Chapel Terrace. The German-cast bell from the Jefferson Street church was reinstalled in the new building in 1974. An addition onto the new church was completed in 1980 and included a library, offices, and classrooms. Holy Cross established of Noah’s Ark Nursery School in these facilities the following year. A new parsonage was completed on Terrace Drive in 1969. A second parsonage was built on Donald Drive in 1970, however it was later sold. |
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| Bibliographic References: | General Files. On file at the Burlington Historical Society, Burlington, Wisconsin. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |