Property Record
833 W WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Saint James Episcopal Church |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 27242 |
| Location (Address): | 833 W WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1867 |
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| Additions: | 1899 1872 1870 1873 |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Early Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
| Architect: | GORDON WILLIAM LLOYD - 1874, Detroit |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Saint James Episcopal Church |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/27/1979 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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, State Historic Preservation Office. HABS WI-255. Stone came from Wauwatosa quarries and the trim stone from Bridgeport quarries. The original cornerstone dates from 7/25/1867 and the church was consecrated in 1868. The church burned on 12/31/1872. Chief carpenter of the 1874 work was Henry Weissenbon and the chief mason was Robert McKelvy. Built 1867-1868, rebuilt 1872-1874. "Half of the property upon which St. James' stands was acquired from James Kneeland, an early civic leader. The remainder, once a burial ground, was purchased from the Town of Milwaukee (the dead being reinterred at Forest Home Cemetery before construction could begin). Upon this site rose one of the finest Gothic Revival structures in Wisconsin, its simple, well-proportioned design supplied by E. T. Mix, popular 19th-century Milwaukee architect. Constructed of pale local limestone, St. James' may have been the community's first stone church. Fire destroyed the original interior in 1872 but spared the tower and newly acquired bells. A restored St. James' reopened two years later. Among prominent church families were the Alexander Mitchells, whose former residence stands on the north side of Wisconsin Avenue (No. 30). When his niece was married in St. James', Mitchell had a rose-covered bridge constructed across the street so that guests need not trail their wedding finery in the mud." Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A Palmer, University Extension The University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Kilbourntown Walking Tour, 1967. |
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| Bibliographic References: | BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 133. MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS TOUR: KILBOURNTOWN, CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. Milwaukee Sentinel 4/18/1874, 8/1. Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A Palmer, University Extension The University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Kilbourntown Walking Tour, 1967. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |