St. Matthew's Episcopal Church is located in

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. 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 ...

for its architectural and religious significance in 1979. The church is a parish of the

Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee The Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin, originally the Diocese of Wisconsin and later the Diocese of Milwaukee, is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America located in the state of Wisconsin. It is in Province V (for the Midw ...

History

Completed in 1879, St. Matthew's is the oldest church in Kenosha. The congregation was founded on April 17, 1840, by

Jackson Kemper Jackson Kemper (December 24, 1789 – May 24, 1870) in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in wh ...

, the first missionary bishop of the US Episcopal Church. A frame chapel was built in 1841 to serve the Yankee settlers of Kenosha. The church attempted to expand in the 1850s, but lost the money they raised in the

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...

. In 1871, the church purchased the lost where the modern St. Matthew's was built. It was situated near Library Park, the center of the Kenosha residential community. St. Matthew's was designed by A. H. Ellwood, an

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

, architect who specialized in public buildings and churches. The church was recognized by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

with a listing on the

on June 6, 1979. On November 29, 1988, it became a contributing property of the Library Park Historic District.

Architecture

The church was built with

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) ...

from

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

and

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

. Exterior ashlar is rusticated while trim around architectural features is dressed. The nave features a steeply gabled roof with stone copings as caps. Stained glass windows are grouped in pairs between buttresses. A square tower emerges from the southeast corner with buttresses on each corner. The tower has a clock and trimmed wooden

louver A louver (American English) or louvre (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences) is a window blind or window shutter, shutter with horizontal wikt:slat, slats that are angle ...

s below a

castellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

parapet 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/brea ...

. The

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

is on the north end of the building and a sacristy wing on the west. The original slate roof was replaced by a similar roof in 1974. A pipe organ by Ernest M. Skinner was added in 1926. In 1987, the large windows on the south facade of the church were replaced with contemporary

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Episcopal churches in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Kenosha, Wisconsin Limestone churches in the United States Churches completed in 1879 Historic district contributing properties in Wisconsin 19th-century Episcopal church buildings National Register of Historic Places in Kenosha County, Wisconsin 1879 establishments in Wisconsin