Additional Information: | WALL MATERIAL ON BACK SIDES IS DIFFERENT BUT IS PART OF THE SAME BUILDING, NOT AN ADDITION.
Completely sheathed with limestone, this Gothic Revival style church is comprised of three periods of construction. The initial towered unit is that which faces E. Huron Street and was constructed in 1914. The second unit, built in 1937, consists of the shed roof, mid section, while the final rear wing was added in 1953. The E. Huron Street façade features a corner tower which is surmounted by a frame belltower that features three, louvered, pointed arch openings along each of the four elevations. A two story, stone trimmed, pointed arch entrance features a pair of wooden doors on the first floor and a large, Gothic arch window with tracery along the upper level. A pair of similar arched windows are located along the east façade, while remaining windows are largely rectangular, multiple light, double hung sash examples. The entire roof is covered with asphalt shingles. An historic photo indicates that the 1914 façade was a relatively small, stucco clad, wood frame building with a wooden shingled roof and pointed arch windows.
This church was originally built in 1914 by a newly formed congregation of the Evangelical Synod of North America, which was named Salem's Evangelical Church. The congregation dissolved in 1937. That year it was purchased by the Grace English Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was organized in Berlin in 1933. The parish hired Milwaukee architect Hugo Logemann to draw remodeling plans, while the contractor August Voeltner, was a member of the church. The remodeling cost was reportedly $15,000. The remodeling included the relocation of the tower entry to within the E. Huron Street-facing gable, the addition of the church#25;s mid section and overall limestone sheathing (and possibly the removal of the wooden shingled roof). In 1953, the church was rededicated following the construction of the rearmost addition. In 1982, the building was sold to a Baptist congregation. |