Mount Horeb Area Historical Society's DRIFTLESS HISTORIUM
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Churches

Churches came into being as soon as European settlers came to Southwestern Dane County and the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. Baptist and Methodist Americans and Scottish Presbyterians brought their religion with them to Black Earth, Mount Vernon and Old Town Mount Horeb. In many cases, the area attracted certain ethnic groups because churches had been established by earlier pioneers. German and Irish Catholics settled around Holy Redeemer in Perry township and St. Mary's of Pine Bluff. Norwegians soon had a number of Lutheran churches throughout the area serving the growing clusters of Norse settlers.

Burying grounds of the American Protestant denominations were usually sited away from the church grounds. This was also the case with the Catholic and Lutheran churches based in the metropolitan area of Mount Horeb. The other country churches and especially the Norwegian Lutherans buried their deceased in graveyards adjacent to churches. Today many of the cemeteries are still administered by an adjacent church but in some cases the original churches have ceased to exist. A Wisconsin law transfers cemetery maintenance responsibilities to the Township in which the cemetery is located if the founding organization can no longer care for it.

Looking at the cluster of buildings on the maps, one can see the communities that formed around these essential institutions. During the days of smaller scale family farms, the larger rural population kept churches, schools, cheeses factories and, regrettably, cemeteries in business. These institutions gave structure, and meaning to people's lives and helped to develop the rich sense of place for which the Driftless area is known.     

NOTE: We are not responsible for information from offsite links. Please contact these resources directly with additions and corrections.
Picture
Springdale Lutheran Church (MHAHS Image PC.356)
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United Methodist Church of Mount Horeb (MHAHS Image PC.301)
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St. Mary's of Pine Bluff Church (MHAHS Image PC.319)

Churches:  Click the church names below for more information including photos, maps, descriptions, etc.
BLUE MOUNDS
Blue Mounds Congregational Church
Blue Mounds Methodist Church
East Blue Mounds Lutheran Church
German Valley Church
North Side German Evangelical Church
West Blue Mounds Lutheran Church


CROSS PLAINS
Saint Mary's of Pine Bluff Church

MONTROSE
Montrose Methodist Church
MT. HOREB VILLAGE
Evangelical Lutheran Church
Good News Lutheran Church
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Jehovah's Witnesses (original)
Life Church
New Hope Evangelical Free Church
New Hope Evangelical Free Church (original)
St. Ignatius Catholic Church
Methodist Episcopal Church of Mt. Horeb
Presbyterian Church of Mt. Horeb
United Methodist Church of Mt. Horeb (original)
United Methodist Church of Mt. Horeb
PERRY
Hauge Evangelical Lutheran Church
Hauge Log Church
Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
Perry Lutheran Church
PRIMROSE
Primrose Hauge Lutheran Church
Primrose Lutheran Church
Primrose Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church
SPRINGDALE
German Evangelical Methodist Church
Jehovah's Witnesses
Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
Riley Baptist Church
Springdale Lutheran Church
Zwingli United Church of Christ
VERMONT
St. James Catholic Church
Vermont Lutheran Church
VERONA
Scotch Presbyterian Church
St. Andrew's Church
YORK - GREEN CO.
Old York Lutheran Free Church
York Memorial Lutheran Church

Interactive Map​:
​

Details: Click an icon on the map for specific site information. To return to map, either click on the map or the ← in upper left corner. 
Zoom: Use the + - icons in the lower left corner or your mouse wheel.
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Full Screen:  Click icon at upper right corner.

Links and References:
Dane County Historical Society- maps, articles
Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society- tax records, images, oral history, publications:
Mount Horeb - Presettlement to 1986. Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society, 1986
History of the Township of Primrose. Mary Hanna Zumbrunnen, 1990
The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. The Perry Historical Center, Daleyville. 1954
The History of the Town of Mount Vernon, 1846-1996. 
The Town of Vermont – "The Early Years" 1846 – 1890. Marian Swoboda
Town of Springdale, Dane County, Wisconsin : 1848-1998 -Carol Riley Statz, chairperson/secretary
University of Wisconsin Digital Collection - Madison Public Library - online resources: plat maps; Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission / Semi-annual bulletin of the Dairy and Food Commission of the state of Wisconsin; Klueter, Harry / Directory of Wisconsin dairy manufacturing plants.
Wisconsin State Historical Society- maps, articles, photographs, Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory for architectural information, etc.
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For permission to reproduce text or images on this site, call 608.437.6486 or email m[email protected].