Property Record
2739 S SUPERIOR ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WELSH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH |
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| Other Name: | CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SOCIETY OF BAY VIEW |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 27666 |
| Location (Address): | 2739 S SUPERIOR ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1873 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1990 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
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| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Bay View Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 8/23/1982 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | SOLE STRUCTURE ASSOCIATED WITH WELSH IMMIGRANTS WHO WORKED AT THE ROLLING MILL AND IS THE OLDEST SURVIVING CHURCH BUILT BY MILWAUKEE IRON CO. EMPLOYEES. The congregation was organized in 1868. Before this building was constructed, they met in a neighborhood home and a school. LATER CONGREGATIONS TO USE THE BUILDING INCLUDE A MISSION OF ASCENSION Chapel of the Evangelical LUTHERAN CHURCH of the Ascension (1908), SOUTH SHORE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SOCIETY SINCE 1957; THEY ADDED THE FRONT PORCH. Underpinned in 1916 for $1250. Other names: Welsh Congregational Church 1873-1890s, Welsh Olivet Church mid 1890s-1907, Bay View Chapel 1909-, South Shore Lutheran a.k.a. Chapel of the Cross 1938-1956. A 1979 survey notes an alternative list of names: Welsh Congr. Chruch: 1873-1908 Ascension Chp. (Evang. Luth.): 1908-1938 Christian Sci. Society: 1938-present ARCITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Well-conserved, small frame church with a rectangular plan and segmental arch stained glass windows. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Milwaukee Iron Company workers from Wales organized Bay View's Welsh Congregational Church (Also known as the First Independent Congregational Welsh Church) in 1868. By the early years of the 20th century, their numbers had diminished, and the building became Ascension Chapel, an extension of the Evangelical Lutheran Chuch of the Ascension (see Pagel). Another map code is 375/17 "This little white wood church has served three denominations during its long history. Milwaukee Iron Company workers from Wales, who organized Bay View's Welsh Congregational Church in 1868, where its builders. Before completions of their church in the 1870's, they held services in a neighborhood home and a school. By the early years of this century their numbers had diminished, and in 1908 their building became Ascension Chapel, an extension of the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension. The Ascension Chapel Guild terminated its custody after thirty years, and the small structure later passed to its present owners." Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A. Palmer, University Extension University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Walker's Point and South, 1969. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 1881 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE, P.1628. MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS DRIVING TOUR OF BAY VIEW. BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 132. Young, Places of Worship. (1977). p. 92. Pagel, Mary Ellen & Virginia A. Palmer, University Extension University of Wisconsin, Guides to Historic Milwaukee: Walker's Point and South, 1969. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |