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make the journey: Mazzuchelli | wrestling | national
register:church, theaters & public buildings
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| Father Samuel Mazzuchelli designed and built St.
Augustine Church in 1844. The church is located in New Diggings,
off county Highway W, Lafayette County. |
Mazzuchelli
in Benton is the last
of Mazzuchelli's stone churches. A new front was added in 1920, but a
little frame chapel at the back houses the original altar. In an alcove
next to the church is a statue of Mazzuchelli.
237 E. Main St.
Benton, WI 53803
This restored building, the last rectory of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli,
has been moved to near its original site. It contains many objects associated
with the life of the pioneer priest.
(see National Register description below)
Sinsinawa Dominicans
http://www.sinsinawa.org
585 County Road Z
Sinsinawa, WI 53824-9700
(608) 748-4411
Wrestling
International Wrestling Institute
and Museum
http://www.wrestlingmuseum.org
Located on Interstate 80
Newton, IA
(641) 791-1517
The National Register
of Historic Places
http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/histbuild/index.html
The National Register of Historic Places is the official Federal list
of properties significant in American history, architecture, engineering
and archaeology.
Here are a several sites that provide some of the historic flavor of
"Passing Through."
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| The interior of Oshkosh
Grand Opera House after a four-year renovation. Located at 100
High Aveneue, Oshkosh, Winnebago County. |
Oshkosh
Grand Opera House, Winnebago County
Opened to the public on Aug. 9, 1883, and designed by prolific local
architect William Waters, the theater was constructed with all the lavishness
for which the period was noted.
St.
Augustine Church, Lafayette County
St. Augustine Church is one of at least 20 church buildings in the upper
Mississippi River Valley designed and erected under the supervision of
Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, a Dominican missionary who served the Upper
Midwest. The church he built in New Diggings is believed to be the only
one that has not been altered. St. Augustine is a small, wood-frame building
with a belfry tower over the entrance. While on first appearance the building
appears to be an example of the Greek Revival style, closer inspection
reveals other stylistic elements and a loose interpretation of architectural
ornamentation. Located at the back of the building is a small extension
that served as the priest's occasional home when he was not out on his
ministry circuit.
Open by appointment. Mass is held in the church early in September each
year.
In communities throughout Wisconsin, municipalities and enterprising
individuals constructed halls, opera houses and theaters. Often the
names were interchangeable. A public hall in a rural community may have
been called an opera house, while the lavish gift from the Pabst family
in Milwaukee was called a theater.
Few of the so-called opera houses actually featured operatic productions.
Some were called opera houses to overcome the aversion to traveling
theatrical entertainers and their perceived lifestyle. Many of these
were multi-purpose spaces that hosted local and visiting theatrical
and musical productions, addresses by noted orators, graduation exercises,
and magic lantern shows.
As time went on, many also showed movies. In an era before radio and
television, these were the local centers of entertainment and a link
to the outside world. Learn more about these important community resources
:
Fox
Theatre, Brown County
Built in 1929 and opening in 1930, the Fox Theater is a significant
1930s "atmospheric" movie theater. In typical fashion of the
time, the Art Deco exterior stands in strong contrast to its lavishly
ornamented interior, creating a transition from "reality"
to fantasy on the inside.
Lancaster
Municipal Building, Grant County
Lancaster's eye-catching Prairie School Municipal Building was constructed
in 1923, an era of civic pride, to serve the governmental and entertainment
needs of the community.
Mabel
Tainter Memorial Building, Dunn County
Captain Andrew Tainter built this remarkable structure as a memorial
to his eldest daughter, who had died while away at college. The Mabel
Tainter Memorial Building was erected in 1889 to house a public library,
meeting rooms and a theater.
Star
Theatre, Lafayette County
Alanson Patridge, a carpenter from New York, constructed the first part
of this simple wood frame building as a carpenter's shop in 1878. Three
years later, a second-floor addition created a large hall for public
and private use, and the building became Argyle's community center.
Bijou
Theatre, Marinette County
The Bijou Theatre, a Classical Revival style-influenced building, was
constructed as a combination retail store and vaudeville theater in
1905 for Frank Lauerman, Marinette's most prominent retail merchant.
Pabst
Theater, Milwaukee County
As a gift to the community, beer magnate Frederick Pabst provided $300,000
for the theater's construction in 1895. Faced with brick and sandstone,
its German Renaissance Revival style is seen in its elaborately shaped
gables.
Uptown
Theater, Racine County
Located in downtown Racine, the Uptown Theater was built in 1928 during
the golden age of movie palaces. Its ornate Gothic Revival interior
features elaborate cast plaster ornamentation.
Richland
Center City Auditorium, Richland County
The Richland Center City Auditorium, built in 1912, was the first auditorium
erected and operated by a Wisconsin municipality after a change in state
law enabled cities to build and operate
income-generating properties.
Marshall
Memorial Hall, Sauk County
Marshall Memorial Hall is a small, well-designed, Georgian Revival-style
brick building constructed in 1928 to house a public library and the
offices of the Town of Delton.
Al
Ringling Theatre, Sauk County
This Beaux Arts-style building in Baraboo was one of the nation's first
"movie palaces" in 1915. The auditorium was based on the opera
house at the Palace of Versailles, and the theater was a gift to the
city from Al Ringling of circus fame.
Sheboygan
Theater, Sheboygan County
Universal Pictures Corp. constructed the Spanish Colonial Revival-style
Sheboygan Theater as a 1,550-seat, combination motion picture and live
theater building in 1928.
Masonic
Temple Building, Vernon County
Viroqua's Masonic Temple Building is an unusual two-story, mixed-use
building constructed in 1921-1922. The Classical Revival-style building
had the Temple Theater flanked by commercial storefront spaces on either
side, while the second floor housed the La Belle Masonic Lodge #84.
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