First Methodist Episcopal Church
First Methodist Episcopal Church (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) is located in Wisconsin
First Methodist Episcopal Church (Eau Claire, Wisconsin)
First Methodist Episcopal Church (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) is located in the United States
First Methodist Episcopal Church (Eau Claire, Wisconsin)
Location421 S. Farwell St.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Coordinates44°48′37″N 91°29′48″W / 44.81028°N 91.49667°W / 44.81028; -91.49667
Built1911
ArchitectJames E. Fisher
Architectural styleGothic Revival
NRHP reference No.99000241
Added to NRHPFebruary 18, 1999

First Methodist Episcopal Church is a Neogothic Revival-styled church built in 1911 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.[1] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 for its architectural significance.[2][3]

The congregation that became First Methodist Episcopal 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, until their new church (the subject of this article) was complete in 1911.[4]

The 1911 building was designed by William Linley Alban and James E. Fisher of St. Paul 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 supports walls of smooth-cut limestone blocks. Angle buttresses reinforce the corners, and the walls of the gable ends extend as parapets above the roof. One gable peak is topped with a cross. Features that mark the Neo-Gothic Revival 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 built by W.W. Kimball and Company of Chicago still sits at the front of the sanctuary.[4]

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 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.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "First Methodist Episcopal Church" (PDF). City of Eau Claire Landmark Commission. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  2. ↑ "First Methodist Episcopal Church". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  3. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Kirk R. Huffaker; Stacey C. Pilgrim (May 1997). "NRHP Inventory/Nomination: First Methodist Episcopal Church". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-10-04. With 16 photos.
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