New Glarus Town Hall

Last updated
New Glarus Town Hall
New Glarus Town Hall.jpg
Location 206 2nd St.
New Glarus, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°49′04″N89°38′06″W / 42.81781°N 89.6349°W / 42.81781; -89.6349 Coordinates: 42°49′04″N89°38′06″W / 42.81781°N 89.6349°W / 42.81781; -89.6349
Built 1886
NRHP reference # 08000286
Added to NRHP April 11, 2008

The New Glarus Town Hall in New Glarus, Wisconsin was built in 1886 to house both the town hall and a meeting place for the Ancient Order of United Workmen. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. [1] [2] [3]

New Glarus, Wisconsin Village in Wisconsin, United States

New Glarus is a village in Green County, Wisconsin, United States at the intersection of Wisconsin Highways 69 and 39. It has a population of 2,172 according to the 2010 census. Since 2000 it has had a population growth of 2.9 percent. The village, and the town that surrounds it, were named after the canton of Glarus in eastern Switzerland. The community was founded in 1845 by immigrants from that canton and was incorporated in 1901.

Ancient Order of United Workmen

The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizations that would offer insurance as well as sickness, accident, death and burial policies.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

History

The first settlers came to New Glarus in 1845, immigrants from Glarus, Switzerland. By the 1880s the community had over 1000 residents, with many occupied in farming, cheese-making, and supporting activities. In 1886 the town and the Ancient Order of United Workmen decided to build a structure to house meetings of both organizations. The town bought the land and paid for the basement and first story; the AOUW built the second story. [1]

The building still looks much as when built. Sitting on a foundation of limestone blocks, it is a two-story frame structure with symmetric openings, small corner pilasters, fascia board beneath the eaves, and a raking cornice - all characteristic of the Greek Revival style. At the attic level below the peak is a small window in the shape of a Gothic trefoil. On top is an open belfry topped with a weather vane. [4]

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolostone, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolostone was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones.

Fascia (architecture)

Fascia is an architectural term for a vertical frieze or band under a roof edge, or which forms the outer surface of a cornice, visible to an observer.

Eaves edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall

The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural style, such as the Chinese dougong bracket systems.

Inside, most of the first floor is one large room for town meetings, with voting booths in the northeast corner. Bars on some of the basement windows attest to the fact that the basement once housed two jail cells. Most of the second story is one large room which was the meeting hall of the New Glarus AOUW, still furnished with some of the lodge's original wooden furniture. [4]

The town's part of the hall hosted elections and a municipal court, in addition to the jail cells. Membership in the New Glarus OAUW peaked around the 1890s, then declined. Over the years, other fraternal organizations were allowed to use the building, including local chapters of the Women's Relief Corps of the GAR, the Odd Fellows and Sisters of Rebekah, the Gegenseitige Unterstützungs Gesellschaft Germania, the Wilhelm Tell Guild shooting club, the New Glarus Männerchor, the Edelweiss Stars, the Swiss choir, the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and the 4-H club. The building was also used for potlucks, dances and by the school. [4]

Grand Army of the Republic American Civil War veterans organization

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois, and growing to include hundreds of posts across the nation, it was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies. It was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), composed of male descendants of Union Army and Union Navy veterans.

Independent Order of Odd Fellows an American branch of Odd Fellows fraternity

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd Fellows founded in England during the 1700s, the IOOF was originally chartered by the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in England but has operated as an independent organization since 1842, although it maintains an inter-fraternal relationship with the English Order. The order is also known as the Triple Link Fraternity, referring to the order's "Triple Links" symbol, alluding to its motto "Friendship, Love and Truth".

International Association of Rebekah Assemblies

The Daughters of Rebekah, also known as the Rebekahs and the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies, is an international service-oriented organization and a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It was initially designed as the female auxiliary of the IOOF, but now allows both female and male members.

The hall is on the NRHP because it is a "superb example of a late 19th century rural town hall building" and because of its role in the social life of New Glarus, in that the second floor hosted many community groups in addition to the UAOW. [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "New Glarus Town Hall". National or State Register. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  2. ↑ "New Glarus Town Hall". Architecture and History Inventory. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  3. ↑ "New Glarus Town Hall". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Trent Lowell Nichols (2007-07-27). "NRHP Inventory/Nomination: New Glarus Town Hall". National Park Service . Retrieved 2017-08-13. With 8 photos.
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