Salem (Ragatz) Church

Located in Sauk County, Wisconsin on County Hwy PF, 5 miles west of Prairie du Sac. This building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

"We shall have an adequate understanding and appreciation of the church today, only as we gain an historical perspective by a study of the past" Rev. R. S. Heitke.

So begins the book "The History of the Salem Church of Honey Creek" by Erhart Mueller. The story of the Salem (Ragatz) Church begins in the home of the Bartholomew Ragatz family, the first family to settle on a small prairie bi-sected by a creek (Honey Creek) and surrounded by hills, located about 5 miles west of Prairie du Sac.

The Bartholomew Ragatz family immagrated from Switzerland where they were members of the Reformed Church. After settling in a new land they continued their religious practices with Sunday being devoted to worship, prayer and discussion. When the Ragatz Family settled on their homestead their nearest nieghbor was William (Uncle Billy) Johnson 5 miles north east as the crow flies, or about 8 miles as the horse and wagon goes, over hills and across a creek. As with other areas after the first settler arrived in an area others soon followed. By 1844 Bartholomew Ragatz was a well known orator who could hold people of all ages on his every word for two full hours. Sunday worship at the Ragatz home was attended by many nieghbors including Indians and Yankees dispite the language differences.

In July 1844 word was sent to the Ragatz farm that two preachers from Galena Illinois were in Sauk City to preach on Sunday the 28th. The Ragatz family came in the morning by Ox Cart. Mr. Ragatz asked for and was given permission to sing a song before the service resulting in a "good" song service before the sermon. Those two preachers were Rev. John G. Mueller and Bishop John Seybert of the Evangelical Association. The following night, Monday, they conducted a service at the Ragatz home. When they departed on Tuesday morning they promised a monthly visit by a Circuit Rider.

Records at the Sauk County Register of Deeds Office show the church was organized and incorporated on Feb. 8, 1847. Adolph Sprecher, John Schneller and George Liehs were elected trustees. The church was given the name of "German Salem church of the Evangelical Association of the United States of America". The church was usually refered to as the "Ragatz Church" in the early days. In later years it was also known as the "Swiss Church", the "Stone Church", or the "Honey Creek Church".

A log church building was started in the winter of 1846/47 with the cutting and hewing of Tamarack logs. Bartholemew Ragatz donated six acres of land near the Honey Creek for church, cemetery, and parsonage. Members of the Reformed faith who also had settled on the prairie by this time joined in the enterprise. After the walls were raised some disagreement over the question of whether to operate a school in connection with the church halted construction and the Reformed nieghbors were paid out. The church building was finally completed in spring 1851 and dedicated on April 8, 1851 by Rev. Baumgartner.

In 1875 a stone church was built to replace the log church for a cost of $3,800.00. The masons were Casper Steuber, John Peter Felix, and Peter Kindschi. The stone work is a free ashlar amounting to almost rubble and is overlaid with regularly spaced raised-mortar joints to simulate squared blocks of stone. This type of stone work is known as "Block & Stack" and was developed in Sauk County probably by German stone masons like Mr. Steuber. The photo above is that stone church. The building behind the church is the old log church. The building to the right is the wood shed.

In 1904 lightning struck the steeple of the church starting a fire that left only the stone walls standing. The pulpit, pews, tables and chairs were saved from the fire. With the walls still intact and sound the church was imediately rebuilt. The new church differed from the old one in several ways. The clear glass windows were replaced with stained glass windows. The steeple is 25 feet shorter than the old church. A furnace was installed in the basement with a single chimney at the front of the church.

In 1942 the entire church sanctuary was remodeled. The photo below is that sanctuary today.

This sanctuary is available for weddings and other worship services. In 2002 two weddings and an all German language worship service were held in this sanctuary.

Mission churches of the Salem (Ragatz) Church