First Congregational Church is located in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area tha ...

. The core of the current church was built in 1867 and has been expanded and remodeled since. The church is also used as a

church school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

. On January 30, 1992, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

for its architectural significance. When First Evangelical

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

Church of Prairieville (as Waukesha was then called) was organized in 1838, it was the first Christian congregation organized in Waukesha County. The members met in homes and the log school house until 1840, when they built a small frame church on the southeast corner of Maple and Wisconsin Avenues. This building was the first Congregational Church building in

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

. With In the 1840s Waukesha became a center for antislavery sentiment, and some members of First Congregational were leaders, both in Waukesha and the Territory. In 1842 when Caroline Quarlls, who had escaped from slavery in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, found her way along the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

to Waukesha, parishioner Lyman Goodnow drove her in a wagon under cover of night on her way to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. In 1845, the congregation passed resolutions against slavery that received country-wide notice. In 1848 Ichabod Codding, who had edited the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

newspaper American Freeman became pastor. A member of the congregation took his place as editor of the paper. In 1867 the growing congregation decided to build a new, larger church. They sold their old church and built the new one at 100 E. Broadway. This 1867 building forms the core of the current building, but it was quite different from now. It was a frame building adapted from plan #2 in The Book of Plans of the Congregational Union. The floorplan was a simple rectangle and the style was

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 ...

, covered in clapboard. The 80-foot steeple rose above the front entrance, with the lantern and spire looking as they do today. By 1899 they needed more space and the congregation decided to expand the 1867 building. They hired the Milwaukee architectural firm of Crane and Barkhausen and added an ell to each side to convert the floorplan from rectangular to

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

. The additions increased space for seating in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, the Sunday school, a kitchen, and the pastor's study. They also restyled the building to the more current

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, replacing many flat-topped windows with pointed tops. In 1922 the congregation decided the expand again. They covered much of the old clapboard exterior with brick, and added an 85 by 20 foot 1-story addition across the eastern end of the church. The addition is in a Tudor Revival style, with stucco and half-timbering. Inside, the addition made more space for Sunday school rooms and more space in the basement for dining and kitchen. In 1928, they added on again, adding a half-story above parts of the 1922 addition to add space for Sunday school rooms. In 1961 the church added a modern-styled education wing.

References

{{reflist Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Churches in Waukesha, Wisconsin Congregational churches in Wisconsin Gothic Revival church buildings in Wisconsin Tudor Revival architecture in Wisconsin Churches completed in 1876 National Register of Historic Places in Waukesha County, Wisconsin