Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church

Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	North of Waterville, Iowa on County Road A-52
Coordinates	43°15′52″N 91°18′11″W / 43.26444°N 91.30306°WCoordinates: 43°15′52″N 91°18′11″W / 43.26444°N 91.30306°W
Built	1868
Architect	W. A. Eriksen;
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
NRHP Reference #	83000339 [1]
Added to NRHP	July 7, 1983

Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church is located north of Waterville, Iowa, United States. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

History

In the autumn of 1850 the first meeting was held to organize a Christian School and a place for worship by the first Norwegian immigrant settlers to the Paint Creek area of Allamakee County, Iowa.^[2] The school was organized in March the following year with Ole Larson as the first teacher. The first church services were held in July in the home of Thomas Anderson by Pastor Claus Lauritz Clausen from Rock County, Wisconsin. The schoolhouse was completed by November 1851 and was used for church services as well.

initially the congregation had only visiting ministers. The congregation sent a Letter of Call to Norway for their own pastor. It was answered by the Rev. Ulrik Velhelm Koren who arrived in late 1853 and stayed until 1862 when he returned to Norway. . In July 1855 it was decided to build a church and it was completed in 1857. The congregation grew in size and divided into two separate churches, East Paint Creek Church and West Paint Creek Church.

The cornerstone for the present church was laid on May 24, 1869 and the church was dedicated on August 24, 1870. It is constructed of stone in the Gothic Revival style. The Rev. Ove Jacob Hjort (1827-1879) was pastor at the time.

In 1880 a controversy over predestination erupted among Norwegian Lutherans which affected the congregations in the Paint Creek area. A small group broke away from the original churches and became known as the East and West Synod Lutheran Churches. To distinguish between the two original churches they were renamed Old East Paint Creek Church and Old West Paint Creek Church.^[3]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
2. "History of Old East Paint Creek Church". Iowa GenWeb Project. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
3. Elnora J. Robey (June 14, 1980). "Old East Paint Marks 130th Year". Cedar Rapids Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Retrieved 2016-02-10.

External links

• Church Web Site