Property Record
305 W MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | HOLY GHOST PARK |
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| Other Name: | DICKEYVILLE GROTTO |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 44363 |
| Location (Address): | 305 W MAIN ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Dickeyville |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1925 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19762016 |
| Historic Use: | ceremonial site |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
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| Architect: | FATHER MATHIAS WERNERUS |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' titled 'Holy Ghost Parish Historic District' 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. OWNED BY HOLY GHOST PARISH. SIGNIFICANT DATES: 1925-1931. Here beside the highway, in a formal garden next to Holy Cross Church, sits a stunning collection of concrete structures encrusted with stones, jewels, bits of glass, and other brightly colored objects. It is the Dickeyville Grotto, the most famous and perhaps most magnificent work of outdoor folk art in Wisconsin. It originated in 1919 when German-born Father Matthias Wernerus built a conventional Soldiers’ Memorial to three local men who had died in World War I. Then in 1924, by constructing a series of religious shrines and monuments, he began to enhance the churchyard’s spiritual and patriotic meaning. Assisted by his cousin Mary Wernerus and by George Splinter, the priest sculpted concrete into pedestals, archways, and shrines featuring marble religious statuary and figures from history. To shape these works of art, he first poured concrete into wooden forms erected atop stone foundations; in the end, he and his assistants used more than six thousand bags of cement and at least six or seven carloads of stone. Once the concrete had hardened and the forms were removed, he covered the sculptures with elaborate patterns, using a porous, fragile looking-material called petrified moss, along with stones, broken glass, semi-precious gems, tiles, and other found objects. Fossils, shells, rose quartz, petrified Sequoia and cedar, tufa, stalagmites, and stalactites are among the materials he incorporated into the designs. He achieved some of his most unusual effects with glass melted in a brazier; in addition, he used common objects and heirlooms including dishware, figurines, and building hardware. Look, too, for the arrowheads, axe-heads, and other cultural artifacts that a group of Menominee Indians presented to him. The most significant structure is his masterpiece, the Grotto of the Holy Eucharist, adjacent to the church. A semi-circular wall surrounding the structure forms a series of niches containing statues of Christ, the Apostles, and St. Joseph. Visitors enter this sculpture through a Roman arch into which three rosaries have been worked. On the lavish rococo interior, precious and semi-precious stones form floral and religious symbols. At the rear, the "Tree of Life," incorporates petrified wood from the South Dakota badlands. Along with the formal gardens, large decorative urns containing glass flowers link the different units and provide unity. Wernerus' work was part of a larger Catholic movement to create shrines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sparked by celebrated visions of the Virgin Mary at the Lourdes grotto in southern France and by Pope Leo XIII's replica of that grotto in the Vatican Gardens. Grottos and shrines favored by immigrant Catholics offered accessible settings for personal devotional experience, in contrast to the formal, mediated worship conducted in churches. 2016- "The district is comprised of approximately 5.3 acres, encompassing two tax parcels with multiple contributing and non-contributing resources. The Parish property currently contains the church [AHI#55789], school [55790], rectory [55791], cemetery [232926], and several utilitarian buildings. These buildings in the district represent the second generation of Parish buildings, built to accommodate a growing congregation after the first church, school, and rectory became too small or outdated. They are generally unified in appearance, despite their construction dates spanning approximately 20 years, by their red brick walls atop limestone foundations. In addition, the current Parish property contains the scattered elements of the Holy Ghost Park [44363], a series of shrines and grottos designed and constructed by Father Mathias Wernerus during his tenure as parish priest. The second tax parcel of the district contains the former convent [232925] for the teaching sisters of the school. The Holy Ghost Park The Holy Ghost Park is a contributing site in the Holy Ghost Parish Historic District. It was constructed on church property between 1924 and 1930. The grottos and many shrines were designed and built by Father Mathias Wernerus. The installations consisted of concrete forms inset with all manner of decorative materials, including glass, stone, shells, china, and gems. They are religious or patriotic in theme, and are located in the areas between and around the rectory, church, and school, with the earliest elements located in the church cemetery. The Crucifixion Group is a set of marble statues on a limestone block pedestal, and was erected in the newly-reorganized cemetery in 1920 to memorialize three Dickeyville boys who died in WWI. In 1924, Wernerus embellished the pedestal of the statue group with stones, shells and glass set into concrete. He also decorated the two urns located on either side of the steps, marking his first forays into the medium that would eventually characterize the entire park. The second experiment in concrete construction and embellishment is generally identified as the flower pots on plinths which flank the entrance to the Holy Ghost Church. The Grotto of the Holy Eucharist represents Wernerus's final experiment in the medium before beginning his most famous installation, the Grotto of Christ the King and Mary, His Mother. The Holy Eucharist was constructed in 1924-25, and is located in the northeastern corner of the cemetery, and consists of a three sided, domed structure with a niched altar on the interior. The largest and most famous of the art installations is the Grotto of Christ the King and Mary, His Mother, constructed between 1925 and 1929. It features a three-sided concrete grotto containing a statue of the Virgin Mary and her Child, with an ambulatory behind the grotto proper. Every surface is encrusted with stones, glass, and other precious materials in both regular patterns and representations of religious themes and objects. Flanking the entrance are two flags: the Papal flag and the American flag. The ambulatory contains numerous niches housing statuary of Jesus and the apostles. This is the structure commonly referred to as the Dickeyville Grotto. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a shrine located south of the school building, and contains an oversize painted statue of Jesus under an elaborate domed baldachin. It was constructed concurrently with the Christ the King grotto. The last major art installation dating to this time period is the Patriotism Shrine, containing a curved walkway around a central fountain, depicting the central figure of Christopher Columbus, flanked by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The encrusted half wall is also topped with decorated anchors and bells. Smaller elements constructed by Wernerus in the same style and using the same materials include the sign posts flanking the entryway to the park and the posts on either side of the rectory sidewalk. The walkways throughout the central park area, known as the Holy Ghost Gardens, are edged with decorated swags and harp-shaped railings that unify the separate installations of the Holy Ghost Park and create spaces for flower beds and more religious statuary. A minor addition to the Holy Ghost Park took place in 1964, when the Stations of the Cross were installed in an arc at the southern edge of the walkway surrounding the park. Each of the 14 stations is comprised of a rough limestone block pedestal topped with a stone slab depicting a scene from Jesus's crucifixion. Although the Stations of the Cross do not feature the technique and materials of the folk art designed and constructed by Wernerus, they encourage religious contemplation in the same way that Wernerus intended with his own installations. The Fatima Shrine was installed behind the rectory in 2002, at the northern edge of the Holy Ghost Gardens. It consists of a grouping of statuary in front of a limestone block half wall, accompanied by two marble benches. This minor addition does not feature the technique or materials for which the Holy Ghost Park is known, but like the Stations of the Cross, the marble benches in front of the shrine encourage contemplation of the religious story presented. Over the roughly 85 years of its existence, the setting of the Holy Ghost Park has changed. As an historic vernacular landscape defined by the National Park Service, the setting of the Grotto must include the vegetation and topographical features that were originally planned for the space. Father Mathias Wernerus discusses those features in his booklet about the park. He anticipated that the pine trees and shrubs framing some of the shrines would enhance the presentation of the artwork as they grew. Over time, these trees and shrubs grew too large, threatening the integrity of the installations and hastening their decay. As a result, some of this vegetation was removed from the landscape: notably, the evergreen trees that provided the backdrop for the Patriotism Shrine, the center tree of the Holy Ghost Garden, and the large trees bordering the cemetery space. Some areas have been replanted; however, it would seem that other areas of the park are intended to be kept clear from large and encroaching vegetation going forward. Other sculptural parks in the state feature landscaping that is an even more deliberate element of the shrines and grottos, in which plantings and their settings have been formed as integral parts of the presentation. The Rudolph Grotto in central Wisconsin is an example of this. Father Philip J. Wagner, creator of the sculpture park, began designing a labyrinth of garden spaces in 1919, consciously incorporating various trees and shrubs throughout to create a meandering landscape devoted to worship and the outdoors. In comparison, the Holy Ghost Park focuses mainly on the shrines themselves, and the exotic and beautiful materials used to create them. Vegetation serves as a backdrop for the art, but is not an indispensable element of their enjoyment and interpretation. In this sense, the removal of some of the trees and shrubs does not constitute a debilitating loss of integrity for the Park." -"Holy Ghost Parish Historic District", WISDot#1650-07-02, Prepared by UWM-CRM, (2016). 1995- "Holy Ghost Park is more well-known as the Dickeyville Grotto sculpture park. The complex is on the south side of West Main Street. Starting from the east along Main street, the first part of the complex is the gates to Holy Ghost Park. Then comes the rectory garage, then the rectory [55791], then an open space that is part of the sculpture park, then the grotto [both 44363], then the church [55789] and then the schoolhouse [55790]. The sculpture park extends southward behind the rectory and the grotto. Behind the church and the school is a large cemetery. Since this is a site with several resources, each will be discussed separately. Holy Ghost Park: Holy Ghost Park, which is a collection of folk art stone shrines and sculptures, includes sculpture around the rectory, the church and the cemetery. The main focal point of the park is the grotto, which is located close to the street between the rectory and the church. The grotto is a small, one-story building of concrete. It is encrusted with colored glass, gems, antique heirlooms of pottery or porcelain, stalagmites and stalactites, sea shells of all kinds, star-fish, petrified sea urchins and fossils, and a variety of corals plus amber glass, agate, quartz, ores such as iron, copper and lead, fool's gold, rock crystals, onyx, amethyst and coal ... petrified wood and moss... and many of those round balls which used to be found on the top of a stick-shift in old cars" ("Dickeyville Grotto" brochure distributed at the grotto, 1995). To describe all of the decorative trim in these intricate structures would take many pages, so the reader is referred to the photograph. The grotto contains a shrine to the Virgin Mary inside and is similarly encrusted on its interior. A large arched opening on the front leads to the shrine; the opening has been enclosed with glass for security reasons and to protect it from the weather. The grotto has the datestone "1925" to the left of the door and "1929" to the right. Behind the grotto is a curved allee containing small shrines to each of the twelve apostles and, directly behind the grotto building, a large sculpture of Jesus Christ as "King of Heaven and Earth." Another main focal point of the park is the entrance gate, located to the east of the rectory. Two tall round columns, encrusted with pink stone with gray stone bands and bases, rise to either side of the path leading into the park. The tops of the columns are crowned with balls of dark stone. Between the columns is a wrought iron arch with large letters spelling out "Holy Ghost Park." Large wrought iron gates affixed to the columns have arched tops. The park contains several other outdoor shrines which are linked together with flower beds, grass lawn and low fences of posts with swags, all built of concrete and encrusted with stone and other material. These shrines include a small, three-sided building directly behind the church. In it is an altar and on the rear are the words "Come Let Us Adore Him." Leading westward from this shrine is a wrought iron fence with spear-headed tops to the pickets. The fence leads to a gate behind the school, of brick piers with a wrought iron gate. Behind this gate is a wide path leading straight through the middle of the cemetery to another, more simple shrine showing the Crucifixion. Outside of the fence directly behind the school is a very large shrine, titled "Sacred Heart," with a large statue of Jesus Christ of the Sacred Heart under a four-columned baldacchino. Behind the rectory is a large assemblage commemorating Christopher Columbus and other patriotic themes. Among its larger decorative elements are a series of anchors, two bells, and a large working fountain. The sculpture extends to the front of the rectory, which has a set of smaller round columns flanking the main sidewalk which are crowned by multi-colored balls. The church is surrounded by the swagged fence. To either side of the main door of the church is a large urn with wonderful flowers all made of stone, concrete and wire. The cemetery also has decorative fencing and trims. Toward the rear of the sculpture park is a small, modern frame building that houses rest rooms and a gift shop. There is also a small picnic area. Holy Ghost Church began as a small mission church attached to a Catholic church in nearby Kieler. It was established in 1873, the same year that Dickeyville is said to have begun. In 1873-1874 a small frame church building was erected that was described in The Catholic Church in Wisconsin as "plain in exterior" but with a nice painting of the Holy Ghost descending on Mary that was dedicated in 1893. In 1895 the congregation included 48 families of a total of 53 families who lived in Dickeyville. The large brick church was built in 1913. According to an 1895 map of Dickeyville, a schoolhouse was in use by the late 19th century. The current school building dates to 1919. The Holy Ghost sculpture park is the highlight of this complex. The park was the creation of the pastor of the church, Father Matthias Wernerus. Wernerus was born in 1873 and served as pastor of Holy Ghost Church from 1918 until his death in 1931. He began his grotto in 1925 and worked diligently on it until 1930. Rev. Wernerus' cousin and housekeeper, a Miss Wernerus, assisted in the effort. Although they were both elderly at the time, they "toiled early and late for nearly five years mixing Portland cement and lifting rocks that would tax a man's strength" (Gregory, p. 567). Gregory further describes their effort: "The work was begun on a small scale, but took on increased proportions while it proceeded. As word traveled that such an edifice was to be, donations began to pour in. Stones came from every land inhabited by man, and the work went on. One central shrine is built at the east of the church proper, which is twenty-five feet high, about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. The American flag is on one side and the Papal flag on the other, a "tree of faith," depicting "the seven gifts of faith," is shown in the rock. statues of the twelve apostles adorn a walk. Fences around the cemetery are covered with stone and colored glass flowers. Gregory concludes by describing a dispute that was taking place in 1932 over the $9000 in donations that were given to the grotto each year. Rev. Wernerus intended it to go to the congregation, but the Bishop became interested in the funds. How the dispute was resolved awaits further research." The church complex would be historically and architecturally significant even if the grotto did not exist. The church is an excellent example of turn-of-the-century church architecture and retains a great deal of its historic integrity. The rectory and schoolhouse contribute to the historic setting of the complex. The grotto and sculpture park, however, are superb examples of the grotesque style of folk sculpture that was associated often with Catholicism but is not common due to the great deal of work required to create it. The Dickeyville grotto is one of the finest examples of this type of folk sculpture remaining in the state, other examples of which include the Holy Family Grotto at the Villa St. Joseph in the Town of Washington, La Crosse County, the St. Phillips Grotto in Rudolph in Wood County and the Paul Wegner grotto in rural Sparta." -"USH 151, Dickeyville to Belmont", WisDOT# 1209-02-00, Prepared by Katherine Hundt Rankin (Preservation Consultant) for Rust Environment & Infrastructure Inc, 1995. |
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| Bibliographic References: | MADISON ISTHMUS 8/18/1995. EAU CLAIRE COUNTRY TODAY 5/1/1996. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |