First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sheldahl Iowa

Date added: December 19, 2024

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Iowa
Church

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The Sheldahl 1^st Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church was built by Norwegian immigrant Osmund Sheldahl. This remarkably well preserved vernacular frame building calls attention to the presence of an early Norwegian settlement party in Story County, and represents the unique voluntary ministerial efforts of Sheldahl to that community during the years 1883 through 1896.

Osmund Sheldahl (1824-1900) settled in Illinois in 1845, preached there for ten years as a lay minister to his fellow Norwegian immigrants, and in 1854 came with three neighbors to the Sheldahl-Huxley area in Story County Iowa to search for cheap good land. The next year, twenty one families (106 persons) who had previously organized themselves as the "Palestine Congregation" made the trek to that location and settled. Sheldahl and J. S. Polk platted the town of Sheldahl. Sheldahl became a large land owner and in 1860 became a regular minister in the Palestine Lutheran Church. He actually built a house in Sheldahl in 1877, and thereafter conducted his services in private homes. The 1883 construction date for his church, built by himself and his two sons, appears to be confirmed by at least one historical source. The carved sign on the building, which states "Sheldahl Norwegian Lutheran Church founded in 1883 by Pastor Osmund Sheldahl" is apparently of recent date.

Sheldahl " … invited one and all, who wanted Bible preaching, to come to the services, because he would preach the Bible and nothing but the Bible." He would serve thirteen years as an unpaid minister. His 1898 will specified that the church should be made available to any denomination as long bible teaching was emphasized. Regular church use continued until 1936.

The church is a unusual example of a private church on private land, provided for public use and maintained by the founder's family and heirs.

Building Description

The balloon frame building is nearly square on plan (28'5" by 30'8), stands 25' tall and is oriented with its longer side on a north-south line. Based on a raised rubble stone foundation, the mass includes an attic area above the sanctuary which is reached by means of a blue trap door above the pulpit. The exterior covering is 4 1/2" clapboard and the gable roof is of wood shingle. An open hipped roof belfry surmounts the front of the roof ridge, while an interior brick flue (which begins 13' above the floor line and is supported by a wall bracket) exits on the opposite end.

A seven foot pair of paneled doors are centered on the south entrance. Fenestration is otherwise limited to the two sidewalls, and consists of three evenly spaced 2/2 double hung sash windows.

The frame consists of native white pine, side walls of vertical members spaced two feet on center. Interior wall surfaces consist of a 38" wainscoting, painted yellow brown to match interior window frames, and a horizontal planking of uneven widths (ranging from 6 to 18 inches). The ceiling similarly consists of 5" planking running parallel to the longer side of the plan. Corner boards, plain window surrounds, enclosed overhangs are exterior finer elements of detail. The building has no guttering. A carved wooden sign identifies the builder and date of construction and is placed above the entrance.

The interior plan has a central aisle with ranks of pews on either side. Those on the left-hand center are shortened on their aisle ends to accommodate a wood burning pot bellied stove ("Old Hyprion #5", patented in 1868). A long diagonally set stove pipe with five ceiling supports connects to the flue base above the pulpit in front. A raised organ platform is in the northwest corner, and three long pews set perpendicular to the aisle fill the northeast corner. A centered raised pulpit with side steps and a semi-circular front with kneeling rail and turned balusters supports a paneled three-sided raised pulpit.

The interior features are all original and are remarkably well preserved. The furnishings evidence decorative cabinet work details. Scrolled brass lamps and bracket extensions are also preserved (not kept in church).

As a vernacular statement, the church interior features are dominant. These include the use of fairly untreated and whitewashed interior surface materials, the uneven wall planking, the location and treatment of the stove, the blue colored trap door (symbolic perhaps of the vernacular treatment of porch ceilings with bright colors), and the overall interior arrangement, and furnishings themselves, all having been locally produced. The overall plan and mass of the building presents a symmetrical design. Corner boards, window surrounds, and the enclosed overhangs are all popular or polite architectural components. Vernacular exterior components would include the broader spacing of the vertical frame elements, the thicker vertical window muntins (as opposed to thinner horizontal muntins), the open belfry, the flue treatment, and the use of local materials and non-professional builders in the construction.

The building remains unchanged. Some mid-1970 restoration work removed later-date interior wall board coverings and restored the whitewashed surface. The roof was reshingled and the exterior repainted. The carved sign probably dates from this work. The exterior has been primed to eaves line, the roof replaced with new cedar shingles, and the building leveled. The suspended chimney had bowed the rear wall and was rebuilt, with its base in the attic, three feet below the eaves line, and a drywall casing was used to recreate the original appearance of the bracketed flue below the ceiling. The chimney is still functional with a triple liner inside.