Property Record
N SIDE OF TOWN LINE RD .1 M E OF CHAPEL DR, E SHORE OF WHITEWATER LAKE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Heart Prairie Lutheran Church |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | FIRST EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 9946 |
| Location (Address): | N SIDE OF TOWN LINE RD .1 M E OF CHAPEL DR, E SHORE OF WHITEWATER LAKE |
|---|---|
| County: | Walworth |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Whitewater |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 4 |
| Range: | 15 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 34 |
| Quarter Section: | SE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1855 |
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| Additions: | 1950 |
| Survey Date: | 1974 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | Ole Nosman |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Heart Prairie Lutheran Church |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | 12/27/1974 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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. Restored in 1950. This little church originated in the early 1840s, when several families emigrated from Skien in southern Norway’s Telemark region to settle around Whitewater Lake, in an area called Heart Prairie. In 1844, thirty-seven of the settlers met to establish a congregation with the Rev. Claus Clausen, pastor at the large Norwegian community of Muskego and missionary to surrounding Norwegian settlements. A decade later, the parishioners began building a church at the lake’s edge. Accounts differ over the date, but work may have begun in 1855 and reached completion in 1857. Mason Ole Nosman trimmed cream brick walls with brick decorations: a plain frieze surmounted by a dogtooth and then a dentil course. The segmentally arched doors and windows and the Gothic-arched louvered belfry openings show the immigrants’ creative borrowings from the fashions of their adopted country. The central pulpit, fronted by a semicircular chancel, faces the congregation’s original hand-hewn pews. The congregation merged with one in Whitewater in the 1940s, limiting this building’s use. In the 1950s, the consolidated parish returned for Sunday morning services in the summer and for “Oil Lamp Services” on the last Sunday evening of every summer month. The church acquired nineteenth-century vestments from Norway and for some years revived the use of Norwegian liturgy. The building itself, complete with oil lamps and pump organ, was restored in the late 1950s and ranks among the oldest Norwegian Lutheran churches still in use in the United States. Covenant/Easement: From 10/25/1978 to 10/25/1983. A 'covenant file' exists for this property. It may contain additional information such as photos, drawings and correspondence. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Perrin 62, pp. 58, 61-62. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |