Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

Milwaukee County Churches

List of Churches from Milwaukee Directories


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Wisconsin News Milwaukee
January 28, 1835

Numerous Church Fires Here

Milwaukee County has recorded a number of church fires, among them several in which the buildings have been destroyed. The list includes:

Spring Street Methodist destroyed July 4, 1861
Holland Presbyterian destroyed in 1871
St. James Episcopal
839 W. Wisconsin av. destroyed Dec. 30, 1872
Immanuel Presbyterian
1100 N. Astor st. badly damaged in the '80s (see below)
St. Lawrence Catholic Church
S. Layton blvd. and
W. Orchard st. destroyed about 1905
First Church of Christ Scientist damaged a week before it was
1451 N. Prospect av. opened 1908
St. Stephen's Catholic Church
Howel rd. destroyed in 1926

Lesser fires have occurred at:

Congregation Anshe Sfard
1134 W. Garfield av.
Sacred Heart Catholic church
N. Seventh and W. Galena sts.
Emmaus Lutheran church
2800 N. Twenty-third st.
St Vincent de Paul's Catholic church
S. Twenty-first and W. Mitchell sts
St. Stephen's Episcopal church
N. Twenty-seventh st.

Additional Fires not listed in Newspapers

Spring Street Methodist
Fire destroyed the church on January 14, 1854 (second building)

Ashbury Methodist Episcopal
In Spring of 1857, Church building is destroyed by fire.
From History of Milwaukee County 1881

A CHURCH DESTROYED BY FIRE.

Source: The New York Times, New York, NY 1 Jan 1888

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 31.---Immanuel Presbyterian Church, one of the finest edifices in this city, was destroyed by fire at an early hour this morning. Nothing but the bare stone walls are left. Loss, $100,000; insurance, $85,000. The building was erected in 1873 at a cost of $200,000. The organ was valued at $13,000. A fierce blizzard was raging at the time, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the fire engines reached the scene. The Arion Club and Cecelian Choir rendered Handel's oratorio, "The Messiah," before a large audience at the church last evening, and it is believed that the fire was caused by overtaxing one of the furnaces, of which there were four, in order to heat the great building. A policeman discovered the flames bursting from one of the windows shortly after 3:30 and gave the alarm promptly, but the fire had evidently been burning for hours before it was discovered, and the building was soon a mass of flames from the basement to the battlements of the tall stone tower. The entire city was brilliantly illuminated, the northern portion being enveloped in a shower of sparks and firebrands. The building was constructed of gray rock-faced stone. Its form was quadrilateral, with transept and tower on either side, and entrance between the towers. The roofs were abrupt and covered with slate. The largest tower rose 147 feet. Besides the magnificent organ, the church contained a number of costly stained-glass windows and a massive and elaborately-carved pulpit.