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 (30m) tall and the other 165 feet (50m) tall. The pedimentedgables 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 (Wangerin-Weickhardt, Opus 146, 1914 / Verlinden Organ Co., Opus 641, 1948/49) commands the back.[2][5]
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.[6]
The 1879 school building stands across the street from the church - a 2-story Italianate-styled brick building designed by architect John Rugee.[7]
The 1898 social hall designed by O. C. Uehling stands south of the school.[8]
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]
