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Salem Evangelical Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

1874 establishments in WisconsinChurches completed in 1874Churches in MilwaukeeChurches on the National Register of Historic Places in WisconsinEvangelical churches in Wisconsin
Gothic Revival church buildings in WisconsinItalianate architecture in WisconsinItalianate church buildings in the United StatesNational Register of Historic Places in MilwaukeeUkrainian-American historyWisconsin Registered Historic Place stubsWisconsin church stubs
Salem Evangelical Milwaukee Apr11
Salem Evangelical Milwaukee Apr11

Salem Evangelical Church (also known as St. Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church) is a modest Victorian Gothic church built in 1874 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 for its architectural significance, and for being "the oldest surviving church building in the near south side... associated with a German congregation."Milwaukee's near South Side was settled in the early 1850s by a mix of German immigrants and Yankees, with other immigrants joining later. In 1865 Zion Evangelical Church at 1418 West Greenfield launched a mission to serve the local German immigrants, which formed into Salem congregation in 1867. Salem initially bought a frame Lutheran church building, but by 1874 they had outgrown that, so constructed the building that is the subject of this article.The 1874 building is small and symmetric, with brick walls on a limestone foundation. Windows have lancet tops, identifying the architectural style as Gothic Revival. The windows are framed in shallow brick pilasters and a decorative pattern is worked into the brick under the eaves. The front door is at the base of a square tower which rises to an octagonal wooden belfry, then a spire, with an onion-shaped bulb and a cross at the top. The unusual features are the high foundation and the bulb beneath the cross. The cost in 1874 was $6,849.34.A rectory was also built in 1874 - a modest 2-story brick Italianate-styled building with brick hood moulds above the square windows and two oculus windows facing the street.Salem worshiped in this church for 50 years, then moved to South Thirtieth and West Mitchell. At that point (1924) the 1874 building was bought by Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, a congregation of Swedish immigrants who were just introducing some services in English. They stayed in the building until 1933.In 1934 the building was occupied by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish National Catholic Church. These were dissidents from Roman Catholicism who did not acknowledge the Pope. They dissolved in 1953 when their priest retired.In 1953, Ukrainian St. Michael's Catholic Church moved in, and is still there, the only Ukrainian Roman Catholic Church in Wisconsin. The icons and iconostatis inside are particular to this last denomination, and not original. The NRHP nomination recognizes the Salem Church building as the south side's oldest brick Gothic Revival church, the oldest surviving church building associated with a German congregation, and the best surviving example of modest churches built by pioneer congregations in new neighborhoods in the years after the Civil War.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Salem Evangelical Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Salem Evangelical Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
South 11th Street, Milwaukee

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N 43.02035 ° E -87.92556 °
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Українська Католицька Церква Святого Михайла;Saint Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church

South 11th Street 1025
53215 Milwaukee
Wisconsin, United States
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stmichaelsukr.org

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Salem Evangelical Milwaukee Apr11
Salem Evangelical Milwaukee Apr11
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St. Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church
St. Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church

St. Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church is a historic church built in 1887 to serve the growing German immigrant population in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The brick church building was designed by German-born architect Herman Paul Schnetzky in a Gothic Revival style. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.Milwaukee's near South Side was first settled in the early 1850s, by a mix of German immigrants and Yankees. In years that followed, they were joined by Irish, Swedes, Norwegians, Poles and Serbians; the neighborhood is a melting pot. St. Stephen's Lutheran Church served this neighborhood for years, until in 1884 a group forked off to form St. Martini. They built a school in 1883, and began to plan their own church building.They hired Herman Paul Schnetzky, a German immigrant, to design their new building. Schnetzky designed a gable-roofed main block with cream brick walls pierced by lancet windows - a hallmark of Gothic Revival style. A square central tower dominates the front, with a round stained glass window in the first stage, a belfry in the second stage, a steeple above that, and a cross topping them all, 150 feet above the ground. Two short towers at the corners of the building flank the central tower. Like the central tower, they are each decorated with four small pinnacles. A rationale for Gothic Revival style is that the steeple and window tops all point toward heaven. Inside, the main auditorium has a vaulted plaster ceiling. Cast iron columns support barrel vaults. The layout is center-aisle, with a balcony with pipe organ above the entry facing the altar in the apse. The building was completed in 1887 at a cost of $14,327.After all these years the church remains very intact and still serves as a visual landmark on the South Side.