By Anne Morrissy | Photos by Holly Leitner
Lake Geneva United Methodist Church
This church, originally a Methodist Episcopal Church, was built by Peter Gommery in 1877 for a total cost of about $10,000. It replaced an earlier building this congregation had maintained at a different site. The design of the building is atypical for churches, with classrooms and other small meeting rooms on the lower level, and the upper floor reserved for the main chancel, which can seat 400-500 people. The exterior was finished in Cream City brick and the building boasts Gothic stained-glass windows.
First Baptist Church, Delavan
As one of the earliest Baptist congregations in Wisconsin, this church held the first Anti-Slavery meeting in the state in 1842. The oldest section of the current church building dates to 1855 and was constructed of Cream City brick; today that section is used as the Fellowship Hall. An expansion in 1880 added the present sanctuary and stained- glass windows representing the 10 basic laws of the Old Testament.
St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Lake Geneva
While the congregation dates to 1842, the current church building on Lake Geneva’s “Catholic Hill” was built from 1889-1892 for a cost of $18,000. The stained-glass windows were donated by members of the congregation at that time. The adjacent school opened in 1952. Updates and additions to the building continued over the next half-century, with the most extensive renovation taking place in 2017 to celebrate the parish’s 175th anniversary.
Holy Communion Episcopal Church, Lake Geneva
Home to one of the oldest Episcopal parishes in Wisconsin, this unique structure dates to 1880. Chicago architectural firm Treat and Folts designed the building in the Gothic style with walls of native granite boulders, which were split and laid up irregularly to show a clean front and give the effect of changing color and design. The windows and coping of the steep roof are bordered with limestone, and the forty-three-foot-high interior is buttressed with oak beams.
Delavan United Church of Christ
This congregation began worshiping in 1841 in a log cabin; by 1855, the first section of the current church building was constructed on one side of the square donated by Delavan’s founding brothers Samuel F. and Henry Phoenix for the exclusive use of houses of worship. The building has undergone significant updates and additions over the years.
St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, Elkhorn
Another early congregation in the history of Walworth County, St. John in the Wilderness was first established in 1841 and named for its location in a rural outpost of what was then the Northwest Territory. The current church dates to 1858 when the Gothic Revival structure was built of Cream City brick; today it contains 22 stained- glass windows. The adjacent guild hall was added in 1893, and the last major renovation of both spaces took place in 1968.
