A brick church and the fieldstone remnants of a convent and school stand on a rural Wisconsin property shaped by Irish immigrants.
At a glance
Built from Cream City brick in 1891, the church replaced an earlier 1860 structure. The adjacent convent and school, erected in 1868 by the Sisters of St. Agnes, survive only as fieldstone-and-mortar walls after being stripped for materials in the 1930s. The site sits near the unincorporated community of Boltonville in the Town of Farmington, Wisconsin.
History
The Town of Farmington was historically a German community. The St. John of God congregation was organized by Irish immigrants who settled in the Boltonville area and chose not to join the town’s German-speaking Catholic churches. They built their first church in 1860; the current brick building replaced it in 1891.
In 1868, the Sisters of St. Agnes, a Catholic order founded in the Village of Barton, Wisconsin, built a school and a convent on the property. The nuns taught in public schools until at least 1892. They also held parochial classes in the convent until 1879.
What you see
The 1891 church is built of Cream City brick, a light-colored brick characteristic of the Milwaukee area. The convent and school have been reduced to their foundations: fieldstone-and-mortar walls that mark the footprint of the 1868 buildings. Both were abandoned around the turn of the century and dismantled for materials in the 1930s.
Cultural significance
The property documents a distinct Irish Catholic presence within a predominantly German settlement. It also records the work of the Sisters of St. Agnes, who taught children in both public and parochial settings from the site.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- City: Farmington, Wisconsin
- Coordinates: 43.5133, -88.1097
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: 1979
Practical information & getting there
The site is near the unincorporated community of Boltonville in the Town of Farmington, Wisconsin. Visitors should expect a rural roadside setting; no visitor facilities are described for the property.
Sources & resources
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