Church of the Gesu - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Roman Catholic Churches on Waymarking.com

"Gesu Church had its origins in the merger of the pioneer Jesuit church of St. Gall, founded in 1849, and Holy Name Church established in 1875. Bishop Henni of Milwaukee was the impetus for bringing the Jesuits to Milwaukee. White on a trip to Europe in 1849, Henni received $16,000 from a wealthy Belgian to establish a Jesuit school in his diocese. In selecting a site for the new facility, Henni first proposed to purchased a brick house and eight lots on North Van Buren Street. This was declined by the Jesuit fathers were were to staff the school because it was within the St. John Cathedral parish. Instead they agreed to assume control of St. Gall's parish. The first Jesuits arrived from St. Louis in 1855 and established a school to educate Catholic youth at St. Gall. The first years of St. Gall were extremely difficult because of poor administration. When Father Stanislaus Lalumiere was appointed to St. Gall in 1861, he was faced with a dwindling parish. By his dynamic leadership, he developed St. Gall into the largest Roman Catholic parish in Milwaukee. During the 1860's he was responsible for rebuilding the boys school, starting a girls school, building a new St. Gall church and securing the charter for Marquette University in 1864, even though the college was not to open for 18 more years. He established the second Jesuit parish, Holy Name Church, in 1875 and was appointed president of Marquette College in 1887. (Neither of these former church buildings are extant). It was during the 1880's that he began a campaign to unite the two Jesuit parishes into a single parish. He organized the subscription drive for the construction of the new church and supervised the architects in its design. The cornerstone laying ceremony for Gesu Church in 1893 was one of the most widely attended events of the 19th century Roman Catholic Church in Milwaukee. The new parish numbered approximately 700 families. An adjacent parochial school on 13th Street served about 700 students under the charge of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The school has since been demolished and the site is now part of Marquette University's campus, which grew up around the Church in the 1900's. Gesu still serves as a Catholic parish for West Side residents as well as for Marquette University's large student population. With its upper and lower church halls seating a total of 2,900 people, Gesu is the largest church in the city." - National Register Nomination

Type of Church: Church Status of Building: Actively in use for worship Date of organization: 01/01/1849 Date of building construction: 05/21/1893 Dominant Architectural Style: Gothic Revival Archdiocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee Address/Location: 1145 W. Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin Relvant Web Site: [Web Link] Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: Not listed

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