Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church,
later known as First Lutheran Church
1866
Organized October 6, 1866 by Professor Haselquist, President of the
Scandinavian Augustana Synod. First
Trustees were: T.G. Mandt, J.G.
Baker, C. Hanson and L.T. Lawson. October 7th the first services
were held. Rev. O.J. Hantlestad was
chosen pastor, he resigned in 1867.
Luke
Stoughton donated a lot and the church was completed in 1872 at the corner of
E. Jefferson and Sixth Streets.
1874
Parsonage purchased.
1877 Church
enlarged.
In 1894, the
first church building was sold and removed and a new building was constructed
under the direction of Rev. T.H. Dahl.
When Rev. Dahl was called to serve as president of the United Lutheran
Church in 1903, he was succeeded by Rev. M.H. Hegge who ministered to the
congregation for 33 years.
Three years
after the celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of its founding, the
church building was destroyed by fire on Oct. 22, 1944. On October 26th, the congregation
met and voted to rebuild. Due to
conditions brought about by the war, construction could not begin at once. A new site was purchased on the northeast
corner of West Washington and North Fourth Streets, and the old location was
sold.
Ground was
broken for the new church on March 29, 1946 and the cornerstone was laid
October 6th, 1946 with the Rev. A.W. Stolen, the present pastor,
officiating.