Property Record
1529 N WAUWATOSA AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH |
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| Other Name: | WAUWATOSA AVENUE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 78053 |
| Location (Address): | 1529 N WAUWATOSA AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Wauwatosa |
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| Year Built: | 1923 |
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| Additions: | 1949 1957 |
| Survey Date: | 19952016 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Late Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | Stone |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | Gerritt DeGelleke (1949, 1957) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| 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. The first Methodist congregation in Wauwatosa was established in 1848 and constructed their first non-extant church on North Wauwatosa Avenue in 1870. The church as destroyed by fire in 1919, and a new building was constructed on the same site in 1923. A house to the south of the church was purchased for use as a parsonage in 1946, and in 1949, a large addition of offices and a school was constructed to the north of the church. In 1953, the church sanctuary was lengthened, and large stained glass windows were installed. In 1957, a small chapel, Wesley Hall, and a Sunday school were constructed as another addition to the north. By this time, the congregation was one of the largest in Wauwatosa with over 2,500 members. A parking lot was completed in 1967 and in 1969, the Methodist Episcopal Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church. Two neighboring houses to the west were purchased and demolished to make room for additional surface parking. Interior renovations of the church and hall were completed in 2011. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Building and Planning Permit Records, on file at the Wauwatosa Planning Department, Wauwatosa. Wauwatosa City Directories, 1926-1992, on file at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison. Wauwatosa Historical Society general files. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |