{"id":152,"date":"2019-06-24T15:41:13","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T15:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/about\/?page_id=152"},"modified":"2026-10-20T17:57:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T17:57:43","slug":"old-muskego","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/archives\/old-muskego\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Muskego"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\">The inside of Muskego is closed for day-of tours, but you can reach out to the seminary archivist, Caleb Rollins, <a href=\"mailto:crollins002@luthersem.edu\">crollins002@luthersem.edu<\/a>, to schedule a tour during the months of October, April, <\/span><span data-slate-node=\"text\">and May.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p data-slate-node=\"element\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-153 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/Old-Muskego.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Old Muskego Church\" width=\"220\" height=\"235\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Old Muskego Church, constructed of oak logs with walnut furnishings, was the first Norwegian Lutheran church built in the United States. It is a National Historic Register property and as such receives special care and use.<\/p>\n<p>The area of Muskego, near Wind Lake, Wisconsin, was first settled by Norwegians in the late 1830s. \u00a0The congregation was organized in 1843, when Danish schoolteacher Claus Lauritz Clausen (1820-1892) was ordained as the first pastor; Clausen served there until 1846. \u00a0The log church was built on \u201cIndian Hill,\u201d previously a sacred site for the Potawatomi who had by then been displaced. \u00a0Construction began in 1844 and took a year due to shortage of funds. \u00a0It was dedicated on Palm Sunday, March 13, 1845; Clausen gave dedicatory sermon. \u00a0The building was used for 25 years before being superseded by the new church completed in 1871.<\/p>\n<p>The Old Muskego Church was dismantled in 1904 and moved to Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where it was reconstructed and restored by Charles L. Jacobson. \u00a0It was added to the list of Minnesota State Historical Sites in 1935 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.<\/p>\n<h2>Scope and content<\/h2>\n<p>The collection contains records and publications relating to the history of Muskego Lutheran Church. \u00a0Minute books of church trustees (1849-1922). \u00a0Record book and guestbook (1905-1938); guestbooks (1976-1991). \u00a0Photographs of the church. \u00a0Newspaper clippings and magazine articles about the church. \u00a0Literature recounting the church\u2019s history, including pamphlets, anniversary booklets, and family histories of prominent members of the congregation. \u00a0Books on the history of the congregation: \u00a0<em>Stangeland Einung Korn\u00f8<\/em> by Alice Stangland Kirn; <em>In Jesus\u2019 Name Shall All Our Work Be Done<\/em> by Karen Hanson. \u00a0A complete magazine issue, featuring an article on the Muskego church: \u00a0<em>Log Home D\u00e9cor<\/em>, #5 (1993). \u00a0Early materials in Norwegian or Dano-Norwegian with partial translation; later materials in English. \u00a0Minute books and 1905 record book in original binding and quite fragile.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The inside of Muskego is closed for day-of tours, but you can reach out to the seminary archivist, Caleb Rollins, crollins002@luthersem.edu, to schedule a tour during the months of October, April, and May. The Old Muskego Church, constructed of oak logs with walnut furnishings, was the first Norwegian Lutheran church built in the United States. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-152","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Old Muskego - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/archives\/old-muskego\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old Muskego - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The inside of Muskego is closed for day-of tours, but you can reach out to the seminary archivist, Caleb Rollins, crollins002@luthersem.edu, to schedule a tour during the months of October, April, and May. 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