The scene around this old church a few weeks ago had the autumn colors as a backdrop instead of the white snow that fell again today. Built in 1920, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Herbster, Wisconsin, had its first Mass celebrated in January 1921 by Father Amen, who came with the mail carrier from Park Falls. With a dwindling congregation and a shortage of priests, the church was closed in 1992 and the bell was moved to the cemetery.
Old Church in Herbster
This country church may still be flanked by the pine trees but on this Sunday, the lawn may have patches of snow and the maple tree would have deposited its leaves on the ground two months ago. The church was built in 1923 and appears to be in fairly good shape yet.
Zion Lutheran Church
Built in 1891 on the south end of Superior, Wisconsin, the Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church made several journeys. The first journey was just a move of a few blocks down in 1898 but the second move was about 120 miles south to the city of New Richmond to be part of the Heritage Center.
When the church opened, services were held in both the German and English language in the early days as the industrial center of Superior had a large German immigrant population but even before the Great Depression, many factories had closed and membership dwindled until the church closed around the 1970’s.
Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church
