Built 1868 Opened 1868 Added to NRHP 7 July 1983 | NRHP Reference # 83000339 Phone +1 563-535-7625 | |
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Location North of Waterville, Iowa on County Road A-52 Address 1799 Elon Dr, Waterville, IA 52170, USA Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Similar Waterloo Ridge Lutheran, Iron Post, Upper Iowa River Bridge, Allamakee County Court Ho, Effigy Mounds National | ||
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. 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.