Freethinkers Hall, also known as Park Hall, is a meeting hall in
Sauk City, Wisconsin
Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, North America. The population was 3,518 as of the 2020 census. The first incorporated village in the state, the community was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner, R ...
. Designed by
Alfred Clas
Alfred Clas (1859 - 1942) was an architect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a partner in the firm Ferry & Clas with George Bowman Ferry and in 1913 Alfred C. Clas partnered with his son Reuben F. Clas and with John S. Shepherd, as junior partners, ...
, Freethinkers Hall was built in 1884 for the local
Freethinkers congregation, or ''Freie Gemeinde'' in German. The congregation had been formed by German immigrants in 1852, and became the last extant Freethinker congregation in North America.
It affiliated with the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
in 1955.
[ The group meets in the hall to this day.
]
See also
*List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches
This is a list of Unitarianism, Unitarian, Christian Universalism, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist churches. Various congregations (churches, societies, fellowships, etc.) and/or individual churches as buildings, ...
References
Further reading
* Goc, Michael J. (ed.) ''Park Hall: a Symbol of Freedom in America''. Friendship, WI: New Past Press, 2004.
External links
Official website
Sauk City, Wisconsin, Freie Gemeinde
Freethought in the United States
German-American culture in Wisconsin
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
Queen Anne architecture in Wisconsin
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1884
Buildings and structures in Sauk County, Wisconsin
National Register of Historic Places in Sauk County, Wisconsin
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