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Property Location
Property Features
City of Madison, Wisconsin Underrepresented Communities Historic Resource Survey Report:
Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, located at 128-132 West Johnson Street, was constructed from 1864-1869. The German Catholic congregation replaced a non-extant earlier brick structure, which was completed in 1857, on the same site. The new sandstone church designed by architect John Nader underwent considerable additions, including a steeple, bells, decorations, a rectory, and stained glass in 1885. The congregation constructed a school building, Holy Redeemer Catholic School, next to the church at 142 West Johnson Street in 1892. The school, designed by architects Conover and Porter, is the oldest extant school building in Madison. The church and school were built by and for German-speaking immigrants. Sermons and schools were conducted in the German language. However, by 1905, when the German immigrant community had existed in Madison for three generations, the first services in English were conducted at Holy Redeemer. The school closed in 1965 due to declining enrollment despite the rapidly growing population of Madison at the time.
In the 1980s, the church became the favored spiritual home of many Spanish-speaking immigrants to Madison. The Centro Guadalupano on the south side of Madison already had the mission of providing for Spanish-speaking Catholics in the city; however, the chapel at Centro Guadalupano was too small for the congregation and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was celebrated at Holy Redeemer for the first time in 1989.
In 1992, weekly mass in Spanish was introduced at Holy Redeemer and Spanish-speaking Catholics from many different backgrounds became members of the parish. The school re-opened during the 1990s for Latino/a children and educational programs for adults. In 2008, three historic Catholic parishes were merged, and Holy Redeemer became the principal home of the combined parish, which has a long history of serving Madison’s immigrant groups. Presently, the church holds an equal number of services in English and Spanish and is the largest Catholic Parish in Madison with many of its parishioners of a Latino/a background.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
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3769 E UNDERWOOD AVE, 3750 & 3776 E HAMMOND AVE
100006695
Located in Cudahy, Milwaukee County
