The Benjamin Church House (also known as the Kilbourntown House), a modestly sized Temple-style

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

home, was built in 1843–1844 by a pioneer carpenter of that name With in Kilbourntown, a settlement on the west side of the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the c ...

. In 1846, Kilbourntown merged with Juneautown on the east side of the river and Walker's Point to the south to create

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, today the largest city in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The house is thought to be Milwaukee's earliest surviving home.

Description and history

The house was constructed in

style with four fluted

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

out front and a symmetrical floor plan. The front entrance opens into a living room, with a dining room behind and then a kitchen. A bedroom wing is attached to each side. The style was also known as Greek temple or national style. The structure was for four decades the family home of

Benjamin F. Church Benjamin F. Church (1807–1887) was a pioneer carpenter and builder in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, listed among the city's first settlers of 1835. He helped to construct one of the city's first two big hotels and built a Greek Revival temple-style ...

, his wife Pamelia Hall Clement, and their children including Hannah Maria, Ann Augusta, Charles Benj., John Benjamin and Susan. Benjamin, a native of

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

, arrived in early Milwaukee on November 15, 1835, and later was a member of the Old Settlers Club. In addition to his carpentry and construction business, Benjamin held a number of local offices. Pamelia was born in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

as shown in the 1850 Census, specifically Pembroke as shown in the town history. In 1884, the house was sold to George Binzel, a bookkeeper who eventually was assistant secretary of the

Valentin Blatz Brewing Company The Valentin Blatz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It produced Blatz Beer from 1851 until 1959, when the label was sold to Pabst Brewing Company. Blatz beer is currently produced by the Miller Brewing Com ...

. George was one of several Binzel brothers who came to southeast Wisconsin from Germany. In 1900, George, his wife Rosa, daughter Louise and sons Paul, Albert and Clarence lived in the house. The address in this period was 501 Fourth as seen in the 1875 Milwaukee City Directory. The Binzel family sold the house and moved away on August 10, 1922. Due to financial difficulties on the part of those who purchased the house, the structure eventually went to the city for payment of taxes.

Rescue and restoration

In the 1930s, the house was recognized as having historical value worthy of rescue for future generations to enjoy. Local

Cream City brick Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan. These bricks were one of the most common building materials u ...

and hand-hewn timbers were among its distinctive features. On July 20, 1936, the house was measured through the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

. On August 21, 1936, architectural drawings of the house were prepared. At that time, due to a city renumbering project, the address of the house was 1533 North Fourth Street, Milwaukee. HABS documents state that the house was then owned by Louise Binzel. Through the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

or WPA, the house was restored and moved in 1938 to

Estabrook Park Estabrook Park is a Milwaukee County park in the village of Shorewood, Wisconsin and is home to the WITI TV Tower and the historic Benjamin Church House. It was named for Charles E. Estabrook, a distinguished Wisconsin lawyer and politician, a ...

in Shorewood, Wisconsin, north of Milwaukee. Furnishings from the 19th century were provided by the Wisconsin Society of

The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Pe ...

Today

The Church house, also known as the Kilbourntown House, is maintained today by the

Milwaukee County Historical Society The Milwaukee County Historical Society, also known as MCHS, is a local historical society in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Founded in 1935, the organization was formed to preserve, collect, recognize, and make available materials related to Milwau ...

. It is open to the public on Sunday afternoons during June, July and August, with docent tours provided.

References

* Benjamin Church (1807–1887) Biographical Sketch, Federal Writer's Project (Wis.), 1935–1942, Wisconsin Historical Society Record 16372 * “Pageant Stirs Her Criticism,” ''Milwaukee Journal'', Sept. 17, 1939

External links

Contemporary photo of the Benjamin Church House in Estabrook Park

1938 Photo of the Benjamin Church House, when it was relocated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Benjamin, House (Shorewood, Wisconsin) Historic house museums in Wisconsin Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Museums in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Works Progress Administration in Wisconsin Houses in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Greek Revival houses in Wisconsin Houses completed in 1844