Property Record
301 W WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | First Baptist Church of Oconomowoc |
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| Other Name: | First Baptist Church of Oconomwoc |
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| Reference Number: | 8525 |
| Location (Address): | 301 W WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Waukesha |
| City: | Oconomowoc |
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| Year Built: | 1912 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2005 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Late Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | James B. Martin |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | Yes |
| Demolished Date: | 2008 |
| 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, Division of Historic Preservation. POINTED ARCHED WINDOWS AND DOORWAY. SQUARE CRENELLATED TOWER ON CNR. POINTED ARCH PARAPET W/CORBELLED CORNICE AND POINTED ARCH WINdow. Previously surveyed in 1980 on a DOT Oconomowoc map. There is a very similar church in Sharon, Walworth County on Baldwin Street, AHI#10282 (it was also built in 1912). The First Baptist congregation was created in 1895 from former members of the Oconomowoc Norwegian Baptist Church. The newly formed church purchased a former hotel at this location where the congregation met until this building was designed by Ohio architect James B. Martin and erected in 1912. A pipe organ was installed in the early 1920s and, in 1922, the church auditorium, classrooms and gymnasium were all "newly decorated." During the construction of the adjacent roadway project, a natural gas line was hit on 2 April 2008 and the church exploded; the only thing standing following the explosion was the belltower. |
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| Bibliographic References: | CORNERSTONE. OCONOMOWOC ENTERPRISE 10/18/1995. "The New Church" Oconomowoc Enterprise, 21 June 1912. Oconomowoc City Directories. Wisconsin State Journal 4/3/2008, p. D3. "Architecture/History Survey." August-October 2005. Prepared by Heritage Research, Ltd. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |