| Additional Information: | CORBELLED CORNICE. POINTED ARCHED WINDOWS AND DOORS. SQUARE TOWERS FLANKING ENTRY, ONE W/STEEPLE, ONE W/CROSS GABLE. ROSE WINDOW IN GABLE. CHRIS GEORGE WAS THE ORIGINAL BUILDER.
"This cream brick Gothic Revival church was built by local contractor Chris George beginning in 1874. The building has a rectangular plan with a steeply pitched gable roof. Towers flank each side of the front facade and are decorated with corner buttresses and brick corbelling. The south tower rises to a 150-foot spire. Stained glass windows all have stone gothic arches and stone stills, except for round windows in the towers, a teardrop window in the front facade, and the massive rose window dominating the streetfront." Historic Kenosha: Library Park Historic District, Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2005.
The First Congregational Church was organized in 1836. In 1844 the congregation erected its first church building and in 1849 the church moved to its current location. In 1874, construction began on the current building by local contractor Chris George; renovations began on the structure in 1903-04. In 1962 the north wing was added.
The Library Park Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under criteria A, B and C. Specifically as it relates to the First Congregational Church, it was nominated under criteria C because the district contains many fine examples of nineteenth and twentieth century architectural styles. The First Congregational Church is listed as a contributing resource for its Gothic Revival Style. Per the Wisconsin Cultural resource Management Plan, and as described in the National Register Nomination, “Gothic Revival style in Wisconsin spanned the years between 1850 and 1880...the style was popular for churches and in Wisconsin, churches of that style were frequently built of stone.” The First Congregational Church features the typical gothic arched stained glass windows and wall buttresses of the style. It specifically has outstanding details in the large stained-glass windows. The cream brick exterior has been well maintained and a common element of this design and use.
|
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | CHURCH HISTORY.
KENOSHA NEWS 10/25/1994.
Historic Kenosha: Library Park Historic District, Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2005
Carol Lohry Cartwright, “Library Park Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forn (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989), Section 8, Page 4.
Carol Lohry Cartwright, “Library Park Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forn (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989), Section 7, Page 6.
Carol Lohry Cartwright, “Library Park Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forn (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989), Section 7, Page 7.
Barbara Wyatt, Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin: A Manual for Historic Properties: Vol 2 (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986), 2-5.
|
|---|
