PROPERTY PURCHASED 1877

PICTURE TAKEN 1893
To Right: Original Church (1881), serving as Schoolhouse.
Forefront: Original Parsonage (1877). In Back: Second Church (1891)

But this small group of Lutheran Christians was determined to have their own place of worship. It was really an act of faith for them to purchase the two lots at the corner of Second Avenue and East Tenth Street from Daniel Lipe. This was the edge of town or beyond it, in those days. The 1893 picture published herein shows the property bounded on the south side by pasture at that late date yet. The purchase was made July 2, 1877. The congregation paid $700.00 for the two lots, was able to pay $50.00 cash, and contracted to pay $100.00 annually and $50.00 the last year, meanwhile paying 10% interest on the unpaid balance. Because the congregation went right ahead with the necessary building program and thus involved itself in further and larger expenditures, this debt was not cleared until March 9, 1886.