With a stormy week, this old church probably appreciates the sunny Sunday morning. This 1888 church was slated to be torn down but instead it was moved down the road from its original location and now it is used for events like weddings and celebrations.
A Church Weathering the Storms
Earlier this month I stopped on a Tuesday evening to take some pictures of the old Peace Lutheran church and by Friday that week, the old red brick church was torn down so it is no longer standing under the Milky Way. But memories of the church will still twinkle, like the stars, in the minds of former parishioners and area residents who drove by the church.
No Longer Under the Milky Way
The steeple doesn’t stand high on a ridge in southwestern Wisconsin, but Salem Evangelical Church steeple had proudly displayed since 1875 in a farming valley called Metzgar’s Valley near Norwalk, with a pasture full of cattle off to the left and surrounded by fields. Salem, meaning peace, has seen eight generations through its doors, arriving first by horses and later by automobiles, and at the end of their life, they may be laid to rest in the cemetery called Wanderers’ Rest. In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church.
Peace In The Valley
Off the beaten path, this 1898 Northern Swedish Mission, or more commonly referred as the Perley Church, is the the only building to survive after a fire in 1905 destroyed the town of Perley Station near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
John Perely was an area lumber baron who, in addition to building the church, also developed a strain of lilac called the “Perley Lilac”. Two “Perley” lilacs stand on either side of the entryway to the church so I might have to revisit this building in the spring to see the lilacs in bloom. The church is now a private residence and bell from bell tower is in Turtle Lake.
Perley Church
The other day I had mapped out a route to take me by some older country churches on my way to a funeral. With the help of aerial maps, I could tell ahead if the church looked old and how high the steeple was from the shadow on the ground. Some of the churches I could find out some history before I left on the road trip and I thought I knew which church would be the oldest one, built before 1900, but I was wrong as I found an older church.
And the first thing I noticed when I got out of the car, at what turned out to be the oldest built church on my trip, was the weather vane on top of the steeple which proudly displayed the year it was built. Section 10 Lutheran Church, east of Cumberland, WI, was built in 1893 on land given by Oluf Charles Christiansen Rolla with lumber donated by Peter Johnson, both are buried in the cemetery.
Although it is a small church, it is surprising how many lives it has touched, as not only does it have a family connection to me, but the band teacher from my high school years (which is more than an hour away), was also confirmed there and his grandfather helped build the church.
Section 10 Lutheran Church
And the weather vane which has weathered many years.
Last Sunday, a local rural church celebrated 125 years, and while a congregation may continue, their building may not; sometimes due to fire, storm damage or age. The ‘Old Red Brick Church’, as known by the locals, is old and it is feeling its 109 years. The congregation have deemed the building unsafe and unusable and the cost to repair is beyond the means of the members so they voted to ‘deconstruct’ the local landmark.
Old Red Too Old
Like many of the old wooden barn, many rural churches have been abandoned and might be used only a few times a year, if at all. So it is nice to see ones still surviving in the rural countryside, like the Wilson Lutheran Church in Western Wisconsin, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary today.
Celebrating Quasquicentennial
On a bright, sunny Sunday morning you might stumble upon a church at the bottom of a hill with a bright roof. The statement “It’s the little church with the copper top” describes this church very well.
Spring Lake Lutheran Church
Nestled amongst the farm fields of Southwest Wisconsin, you can stumble upon small rural country churches like St. Peter Catholic Church near Cuba City, Wisconsin.
Country Church
With the promise of sunshine for day, it gives a ray of hope that spring may come, even if the temperature is still chilly. Nestled in the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin in Seymour Township, Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church was built in 1869.
Our Lady of Hope
