Property Record
804 GRIGNON ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church |
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| Other Name: | Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church |
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| Reference Number: | 51830 |
| Location (Address): | 804 GRIGNON ST |
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| County: | Outagamie |
| City: | Kaukauna |
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| Year Built: | 1916 |
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| Additions: | 1969 |
| Survey Date: | 1983 |
| Historic Use: | church |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Constructed by Coppes and Luckow. Cost of construction plus interior furnishings was $24,000. The Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, located at the northwest corner of Grignon and Tobacnoir, is distinguished by its symmetrical composition, red brick exterior, steeply pitched roof, steeped buttresses, pointed stained glass windows, and two side towers. Influenced by Romanesque precedents, the massive towers (the west one is taller) have crenelles and stepped buttresses, and flank the original front (south) facade which displays a large stained glass window. In 1969, a new one story vestibule with a street level entrance was built (of a different shade of red brick) in front of the old raised entranceway thus altering the original composition of the building. The new vestibule, however, duplicated the stained glass windows that had been covered during the renovation. A small eastern wing was also added in 1969. The two story red brick Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School is located across the street from the church. Trinity Lutheran Church is a symbol of the continuing German ethnic influence in Kaukauna. When the present church was built in 1916, services were still offered in both German and English. Until 1911, all services had been in German, and the German services were not dropped entirely until 1947. Together with the Catholic churches of Holy Cross and St. Mary's, it is considered a pioneer church of Kaukauna, as the congregation began meeting as early as 1877 and affiliated itself with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin in 1879. The congregation began to grow dramatically in teh early 1880's as workers came to Kaukauna to build the Kaukauna water power, the Meade and Edward Canal, the Hewitt water power and the extensive division yards of the Milwaukee Lake Shore and Western Railroad. The original church of 1878 and the school of 1885 served 100 members and 60 students respectively by 1891. In 1914 the Trinity congregation was again reported as "rapidly growing" and strongly in favor of building a new church. The Kaukauna Times of July 2, 1915, counted 1,200 people as witnesses for the present church's cornerstone-laying ceremonies, which were as usual held in German and English. In 1891 Trinity's parochial school was noted in an enumeration of community influences, and the Trinity Lutheran school of 1923 continued as a medium for transmitting German-American values of conservatism and hard work. It has been the third-largest parochial school after St. Mary's and Holy Cross Catholic traditionally. By 1916, when the present Trinity Lutheran Church was completed, six of Kaukauna's 13 mayors had been of German extraction, and the paper company begun by Oscar Thilmany was growing as a vital Kaukauna industry, even though Mr. Thilmany had gone back to Germany. To many of the important minority of German-Americans in Kaukauna, Trinity is an ethnic and cultural home. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Kaukauna Times 100th Anniversary 1880-1980 (publ. Sept. 16, 1980). Old Photograph. Kaukauna 175th Jubilee Album, p. 1, p. 15. H.J. Mulholland ms., Outagamie County Historical Society collection, p. 1-2. Lion of the Fox River Valley, pp. 17-19. Kaukauna Times, June 5, 1914; August 9, 1923; Oct. 31, 1991. KAUKAUNA TIMES. October 31, 1991. "Trinity Congregation to Mark 75th Anniversary of Church Building." |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |