Property Record
373 W STATE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | GOD'S ACRE CEMETERY FENCE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 221662 |
| Location (Address): | 373 W STATE ST |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | Burlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
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| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1927 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | fence |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | Masonry |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | John Rausch (mason) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | In 1847, the newly formed Catholic parish that would become St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church and later St. Mary’s Catholic Church purchased 5 acres of land along State Street from Silas Peck for $78 to become a parish cemetery. The cemetery was named God’s Acre and is located at 373 W. State Street. During the 1860s to 1880s, many decorative wrought iron crosses were erected as burial monuments by German parishioners, many of which were manufactured by the Wagner Brothers foundry in Burlington. A chapel designed by John Kemptner was constructed by mason Frank Rueter and carpenter Joseph A. Rueter in 1892 at the cost of $1,200. As a memorial to St. Sebastian’s first permanent priest, Rev. Michael Wisbauer who passed away in 1889, the chapel was constructed over Wisbauer’s gravesite. Inside the cemetery chapel is the altar from the parish’s original, non-extant church. Under the direction of parish priest Rev. John A. Bertram, a Cemetery Association was organized in 1914. Rev. Van Treeck influenced the parish to purchase 10 acres of adjacent land to meet needs for additional space at the cemetery in 1927. Also that year, a brick pier and wrought iron fence was constructed by mason John Rausch along State Street. |
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| Bibliographic References: | General Files. On file at the Burlington Historical Society, Burlington, Wisconsin. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |