First Methodist Episcopal Church is a Neogothic Revival-styled church built in 1911 in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire ( ; lit. "clear water") is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Eau Claire and Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Chippewa counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat, seat of Eau Claire County. It is the List of citie ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1999 for its architectural significance. The congregation that became First

Methodist Episcopal The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

began meeting in 1857, praying in the home of D.S. Hastings. Between 1863 and 1868, they built a wooden church on S. Barstow, and it served them until it burned in 1909. After the fire they met for two years in the

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

, until their new church (the subject of this article) was complete in 1911. With The 1911 building was designed by William Linley Alban and James E. Fisher of

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and built by Samuel Converse and Company for $30,000, seating 650. The floor-plan is cross-gabled with a 3-story square tower in the corner. A foundation of rock-faced

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

supports walls of smooth-cut limestone blocks. Angle

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act a ...

reinforce the corners, and the walls of the gable ends extend as

parapets A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

above the roof. One gable peak is topped with a cross. Features that mark the Neo-

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style are the Gothic transoms over the doors, the steeply-pitched roofs, and the irregular massing. Inside, some things have been changed, but the original pneumatic

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

built by W.W. Kimball and Company of Chicago still sits at the front of the sanctuary. In 1930, First Methodist Episcopal merged with Lake Street Episcopal Church and moved to the larger building on Lake Street. The building was bought by Immanuel Lutheran, a Swedish Evangelical

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

congregation which had been founded in 1883. By 1930 they had outgrown their building on Oxford Ave. and Fulton Street, so bought First Episcopal's building. Immanuel stayed from 1931 to 1981, then sold it to the Unitarian Fellowship.

References

{{reflist Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Methodist churches in Wisconsin Churches in Eau Claire, Wisconsin Churches completed in 1911 Gothic Revival church buildings in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin