The First Unitarian Church is a historic

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 ...

-styled church built in 1891–92 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. 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 1974. First Unitarian's congregation hired the firm of

Ferry & Clas Ferry & Clas was an architectural firm in Wisconsin. It designed many buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. George Bowman Ferry (1851 - 1918) and Alfred Charles Clas (1859 - 1942) were partners. The partners ...

of Milwaukee to design their new church building, and

Ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

himself led the design - in reserved Gothic Revival style. Most walls are rock-faced Bedford limestone, rising to steep gable roofs with dormers. The general floor-plan is L-shaped, with a tower rising from one leg of the L. With Inside, the auditorium has a

hammerbeam A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams proj ...

ceiling resting on carved stone

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...

. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

contains an organ, a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

, and a carved oak

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

. The windows have abstract designs. The church is little changed from when it was built. First Unitarian was placed on the NRHP for its architectural significance, but it is also the oldest Unitarian church building in Milwaukee.

References

{{List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches, state=autocollapse Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Unitarian Universalist churches in Wisconsin Churches in Milwaukee Gothic Revival church buildings in Wisconsin Churches completed in 1891 National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 1891 establishments in Wisconsin