St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

	Saint Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church
Location	1204, 1213, 1214, and 1215 S. Eighth St.; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nearest city	Milwaukee
Coordinates	43°1′7.95″N 87°55′17.12″W / 43.0188750°N 87.9214222°W
Built	1885
Architect	Andrew Elleson
Architectural style	Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference No.	87001736
Added to NRHP	September 25, 1987

St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, or Iglesia Luterana San Pedro, is a historic church complex located in the Walker's Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]^[3]

History edit

St. Peter's congregation (Evangelisch Lutherischen St. Peters Gemeinde) was founded February 14, 1860, by German immigrants, with 34 charter members. In 1861, the congregation bought a frame building for its first church and moved it to the corner of South Eighth and West Scott Streets. In 1866, the congregation built a small brick-clad Gothic-influenced church designed by John Rugee. In 1873, the congregation added the frame parsonage which still survives, and, in 1879, the school building.^[2] In 1884, 13 families were released from the congregation to establish Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church.^{[citation needed]} The congregation is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).^[4]

The current church building was designed by Milwaukee architect Andrew Elleson in Victorian Gothic style and built in 1885. It has a cruciform floor-plan, with a massive square tower on each side of the front entrance - one 100 feet (30 m) tall and the other 165 feet (50 m) tall. The pedimented gables on the larger tower have a German flavor, similar to St. Mary's in Lubeck. The spires on the towers and the peak of the gable are topped with crosses. The interior is well-preserved, with the altar standing in a tall apse, and in front of an antique white wood reredos. To the altar's left is an elevated goblet-shaped pulpit. A U-shaped balcony rings the sides and back of the nave, a common feature of 18th century churches in Germany. A large pipe organ commands the back.^[2]

Other remaining structures in the complex are:

The 1873 parsonage is south of the church - a wood frame building in simplified Italianate style. It is now used for church offices.^[5]
The 1879 school building stands across the street from the church - a 2-story Italianate-styled brick building designed by architect John Rugee.^[6]
The 1898 social hall designed by O. C. Uehling stands south of the school.^[7]

In 1860, the congregation and building rose out of a working-class neighborhood of modest homes of immigrants. The south side is not so different in 1987.^[2]